The Lost Scrolls, Book One: Uzumaki
by sagedmorse
Summary: Kyo had lost everything. After running for most of her young life due to her heritage, she's discovered by an all too powerful shinobi. She's trained hard, plans begin to fall into motion, and along the way, she's faced with an important question. Who will she save?


207

Part One

Chapter 1

"Madara-sama when will she wake up?" A whiny, high-pitched voice said. "I want another friend, I have many important questions to ask her."

"She should be waking up soon. Don't freak her out though, she probably has no idea what's going on, do not overwhelm her."

I opened my eyes. _My head is pounding. _My vision was blurry but eventually cleared, revealing an older man, and some strange white men? _Could I even really call them men?_

Panic started to set in and my breathing quickened.

"She's freaking out!" One of the white figures said.

The man came over and sat in front of me on the bed. "Calm down. Everything is going to be alright." He smiled, but it wasn't scary or anything.

"Where am I?"

"Before we get into that, what's your name?" He asked softly.

"Kyo."

"Okay, Kyo. You're currently with me, Madara Uchiha, and my zetsus in an underground asylum, if you will. I found you in the forest a couple days ago. You were malnourished and almost dead."

"Are you going to kill me?" I whispered.

"I assume you're asking that because of your hair. You're an Uzumaki, aren't you?"

I looked up at him, my hands were shaking. I'd been hiding for so long, why were they being so nice to me?

"You are only a child, you don't know what being a ninja means just yet. Why should you be punished for something you aren't involved in?"

I felt tears growing in my eyes but I quickly shook them away. "Thank you."

"You're going to be with us for a while, so we're going to start training you. I hate to tell you this, but the world doesn't know that any of us exist. That's why we're in hiding."

"If the world doesn't know you exist, that means I'm safe." I collapsed backwards into my bed. _I'm safe._

Madara smiled as I relaxed. _She had been so tense since she arrived, even in her sleep she was on edge._

"I'm going to start teaching you the basics. First, get changed. We have your gear in that closet over there. Meet us in the main room in an hour. Bathroom is through that door, do what you need to do." He smiled and they left me to my thoughts.

I sat there stunned for a while, trying to process all the information that had been thrown at me. Eventually I stood up and went to the bathroom. I looked around in amazement. I don't remember ever being in a bathroom, I only had the forest for a long time.

I leaned in close to the mirror and gazed at myself. I've never seen my reflection undistorted before. I had red hair, it was long and reached past my hips.

I made my way to the closet and walked inside. I picked out a t-shirt and black shorts with black sandals. I looked in the mirror and smiled. _It's nice to have clean clothes._

When I made it to the main room I tied half my hair up and flicked it behind me.

"It appears you're ready. It's this way to the training room."

I followed Madara to the other room, more than excited to learn about being a ninja. Maybe I was just excited to have a family. I was bouncing and he glanced at me and smiled.

"You seem eager." He stated, not taking his eyes off me.

"It's nice to be around people."

"Alright. Let's get started with the basics."

…

After sparring for a couple hours I collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

"You did really well, you caught on to it all naturally. We'll keep training like this for a long time, so be prepared."

"Hai!"

We made our way back to the main room and the white zetsus were carrying food to a table. We sat down and started to eat in silence for a while.

"Kyo, do you remember your family?"

I looked down at my hands and they started shaking slightly. I clenched my fists and left them in my lap so they wouldn't notice. "We were traveling through the forests in the land of fire, I don't remember ever seeing a village. My parents were worried about being recognized if they were around other people." I paused and took a deep breath. "We were ambushed, some anbu from Konoha were sent to eliminate us. They addressed us like we were rogue ninja, I don't think they knew we were Uzumaki. My parents fought them and I hid nearby. They were killed. I hid in the forest ever since."

There was silence for some time.

"You said you were an Uchiha?"

"Yes. I was one of the founders of Konohagakure, but that isn't important to me anymore. Why do you ask?"

"My... father was an Uchiha." Madara stared at me for a moment, as if not entirely believing what I said. "When I watched my parents die..." I activated my sharingan and looked up at him.

"Well this changes everything." He whispered to himself.

Chapter 2

It's been two years since I first started my training with Madara, and honestly it's been incredible. He's become like a father to me, since I barely remember mine. Madara tells me I'm a prodigy, especially because I'm an Uchiha. He says I'm the same level as a chunin, I'm not exactly sure what that means except that it's a rank they use.

I've started to spar with the white zetsus as of the past year, I've noticed that Madara is getting older and that he isn't able to get around as easily as before. I'm worried about him.

"Kyo dear, I need you to do a favor for me." I walked over to his side and knelt in front of him. "There was a young man on a mission in the war that's raging, he was crushed by boulders trying to save his comrades. I need you to go to him and bring him back here."

I teleported to the coordinates he gave me and noticed the large pile of rubble. _He's under here? No way he's still alive..._ I started moving boulder after boulder, trying to find the boy. I activated my sharingan and spotted him in the center of the mess.

"Wind Release: Breakthrough."

The boulders were blown away to reveal a mangled body. I ran over to him and checked his pulse, it was barely there. I picked him up and quickly made my way back to the base, making sure that no one was following me. When I got inside I immediately took him to Madara and laid him on the floor in front of him.

"He needs medical attention! Do you know any medical ninjutsu?" I asked frantically, trying to remember if he taught me any.

"He doesn't need it." Madara said, standing from his chair and going to the tree that held the white zetsus. "Let me show you a little trick I learned a while ago."

…

I was sitting cross-legged at the end of Obito's bed, meditating. Madara said that I should sit and wait for him to wake up. He needed to go out for a bit and he didn't want Obito to panic.

"When do you think he'll wake up?" One of the zetsus behind me asked.

"Be patient." Another added.

"But I want to ask him about poo! Kyo won't tell me a thing..."

"Would you shut it?!" I was on edge just like they were. Obito stirred slightly and I opened my eyes. All of a sudden he sat up and frantically looked around. Then his gaze landed on me, his eyes narrowed and he tried to get up.

"I wouldn't do that, your wounds need to heal. You don't want to die, do you?"

"No... I need to get back to Konoha. I need to get back to my team."

"So he's awake." Madara walked into the room and stood behind me. "Obito stay still, we're stuck between this life and the next."

Obito gasped slightly when he saw Madara's eyes. "You're an Uchiha?"

"We both are." I said, activating my sharingan as well.

"You said we're between this life and the next, don't tell me I'm dead or something." Obito said, chuckling slightly, then wincing from his movements.

"The fact that you feel pain proves you're still alive. Although, you should have been killed under those rocks. It's like your body passed through them." I said thoughtfully.

"So, you two saved me?"

"Kyo saved you. I just told her where you were."

"Thank you." Obito looked at me and seemed to finally notice how young I was. "You already have your sharingan? How old are you?"

"She's seven. A prodigy and my pupil." Madara scruffed my hair a little and I huffed.

"So, you both live down here?"

"No one knows of our existence, we're all wanted for one thing or another. You'll be joining us as well, to repay your debts."

"I can't stay for long, I have to get back to my village. I just acquired my sharingan, I need to protect my team. I need to be with them throughout this war."

"Wake up to reality. Nothing ever goes as planned in this world. The longer you live, the more you realize that only pain, suffering, and futility exist in this reality. Listen to me. In this world, wherever there is light, there are always shadows. As long as there is a concept of victors, the vanquished will also exist. The selfish desire for peace gives rise to war. And hatred is born in order to protect love. These are all nexuses, causal relationships that cannot be separated." Madara stated (episode 344).

I looked down at my hands. They were shaking again. Madara has a way of being brutally honest that can easily destroy a person's ideals. He's the reason I'm still alive, even when I don't want to be.

"Who are you anyway? I know the Uchiha in the village."

"I am an Uchiha ghost. You two will be the future of this world." Madara sat in his chair and coughed. "I am Madara Uchiha."

"Madara? As in my ancestor?"

"At this point, it would make sense that you see me as death. This reality truly is hell, after all."

"What do you mean by future of this world?"

"You two will make a world only of victors, a world only of peace, a world only of love. That is my dream, but I am old and dying. So I am passing my wishes unto you." He paused and looked at me. "Kyo, go train with the white zetsus. I'm going to spend some time with Obito."

I went into the other room with the zetsus and we started sparring. I was only half present though, it took little effort to take care of them at this point. _I wonder what Obito's village is like. It's the same one Madara founded, right? I hope I see it one day._

…

Obito was gasping for breath, laying on his back in the training room. "You're gonna have to do better than that." I smirked at him and helped him to his feet.

"If I weren't mistaken, it looks as if you have our smirk."

My face got red and Obito started laughing. I threw my kunai at him and he dodged it easily. "Man, if it weren't for your sharingan I would have had you."

"Yeah, well-"

A white zetsu ran frantically into the room and ran into the wall. Obito and I both glanced at each other and watched as he got to his feet.

"Obito! Obito!"

"What?" Obito seemed slightly annoyed with him, he never stops asking him what pooping is like.

"Madara said he sensed your teammates outside our hideout. They're cornered and need you."

"Kakashi and Rin?" Obito started running for the door with the Zetsu close behind. _I hope they're ok, I hope Obito finds them._

I went into the main room and sat with Madara. "Do you think they'll be ok?"

"No. Obito will see how cruel this world can be. He'll join our cause, there isn't hope for them."

"Let me go help then! I don't want them to die."

"Kyo, there's nothing any of us can do. You have to let it take its course. We need Obito, and if he goes back to the village then he will be of no use to us."

"By letting his friends die?"

"In our new world, their sacrifice is necessary. Give it time, Kyo. You'll understand."

Obito walked into the room dripping with blood. I ran over to him. "Obito! Are you hurt? Why is there so much blood?"

"I must create a world where Rin will live again. That's why I have come back."

"Obito..." I couldn't help the frown that formed on my face. _Rin died?_

"Did anyone see you?" Madara asked.

"Actually there weren't any survivors, he slaughtered them all. He was gone long before reinforcements arrived." Zetsu said, chuckling.

"Kyo, go train with Zetsu. You are too young to understand the plan yet, I need to speak with Obito."

"I want to hear it from you."

"Go, Kyo." My shoulders slumped and I followed Zetsu into the other room.

Zetsu went to attack me but I didn't move, he hesitated mid movement and stumbled so he wouldn't hit me. I sat down on the ground and put my head in my hands.

"Kyo..." He sat across from me with his head cocked to the side.

"He never tells me anything." I mumbled.

"You're still young. He doesn't want to overwhelm you with the plans, Madara cares about you a lot-"

"It doesn't feel like it! We've been together for so long, and he trusts this newby Uchiha with the entire plan? How is that fair to me? What am I to him?"

"Kyo, he isn't telling you the plan yet because he cares about you so much. He knows that if he overwhelms you now, then you might not be able to go through with it. You need to get stronger, just give it some time." I looked up at Zetsu and a reluctant smile trailed across my face.

"You better be ready then." I said with an evil grin. I whipped out a kunai and tackled him to the ground.

"Kyo! That isn't fair, I wasn't ready!" He whined beneath my kunai.

"You should always be ready, especially with a squirt like her." Obito said from the doorway.

"Oh, hey Obito." I walked over and hugged him. "Are you okay?"

"I will be. Madara wants to speak with you."

I walked into the other room and Madara was sitting in his chair with his eyes closed. When I was a couple feet away he reached out and took my hands in his. We stayed like that for a while, he seemed to be hurting, but I knew he'd never admit to that.

"Kyo dear, it's time for me to go." I felt a tear glide down my cheek. "Don't cry. It will not be the last time you see me. I told Obito what the plan is, and when the time comes you will know as well. He will take care of you from now on."

"Please don't go..." I whispered. "You're the only family I have left."

"Obito is your family now, he needs you just like you need him."

Madara stood up and pulled the roots out of his back, he collapsed into his chair and his breathing became labored.

"Tou-san!" I yelled and fell to my knees. Obito ran over and grabbed me.

"Kyo, we need to go."

"No! Tou-san... No!" I cried into Obito's chest. He carried me to my room and stayed with me until my tears subsided and I fell asleep.

Chapter 3

"It happens tonight." Obito said coming into the training room.

"Oh, you're back. How'd your mission go?" I asked wiping sweat from my forehead.

"I need to brief you on our mission tonight, this is the first part of Madara's plan that directly involves you." I winced slightly at his name. It's been a year and a half since he passed and I still wasn't completely healed from the loss.

"What are we to do."

"You won't be fighting, you're still too young. But this mission will help you acquire more power and will help with our future."

"Never thought that I would be summoned by you, Madara Uchiha. I, along with the rest of the world, believed you to be dead. But here you are."

"Don't get any ideas, Orochimaru." Obito paused and looked down at me. "I'm going to need your help with a sealing jutsu. In the meantime, you and Kyo will wait at these coordinates."

"And what will I get in return?" Orochimaru licked his lips.

"I will make it worth your while."

Orochimaru teleported us to the coordinates and we waited around for a long time. It was weird being with him, he kept examining me like I was a test subject.

"What?" I asked, mildly irritated.

"You're interesting. What are you doing with Madara?"

"He's been my family for a long time."

"Oh? So you're an Uchiha?" He licked his lips at the thought.

I activated my sharingan and eyed him. "If you try anything, I won't hesitate to kill you."

Orochimaru stopped moving, clearly having second thoughts. In that moment Obito appeared next to us.

"There's been a slight change in plans. I need you to perform the reanimation jutsu for me, are you able to find a body on such short notice?"

"Who will we be reanimating?"

"Minato Namikaze. He was more powerful than I anticipated. He sealed half the nine-tails into his son, Naruto. The other half was sealed with him and taken by the Shinigami. If you can find a body for me, you can keep his reanimation."

A spark lit Orochimaru's eyes. "Sounds like a deal."

"Kyo, you'll be coming with me. I need your help with getting a mask from the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Temple."

Orochimaru shunshined off to find a body and Obito and I went to the temple.

"This temple is from your clan. I'll show you the hand signs to perform, after that you need to find the correct mask to summon the Shinigami." Obito said.

I closed my eyes and performed the seals. I felt the energy from each of the masks reach out to me, each whispering its purpose. I felt their essence wrapping around my body, none of them felt right. Only one was silent.

I opened my eyes and pointed to the quiet one. The one that held the secrets we needed.

"Good work... now, time for stage two." He quickly snatched the mask off of the wall and we went back to our meeting place.

"Kyo, don't be frightened about anything that is about to happen." Zetsu appeared next to us. "After I complete this, Zetsu will take me back to the hideout and heal me with Hashirama's cells. I'm leaving two Zetsu here with you while I'm gone, wait until I return to go any further with the plan."

Orochimaru appeared with an unconscious shinobi. No one asked how he got it and they both nodded to one another.

Obito put the mask on and a shiver went through his body. _Here goes nothing._ He thought as he became possessed by the Shinigami. Obito brought a kunai out of his right side pocket and sliced his stomach open, releasing the soul of Minato Namikaze. The mask fell off his face as his knees hit the ground. Blood was gushing out of the wound on his stomach as he lost consciousness.

As he was being taken away, Orochimaru continued to work on the reanimation jutsu. It was a horrifying thing to witness. The man was barely sitting up in the seal. He placed his hand on the scroll in front of him and the man began shrieking in pain, I cringed slightly at the sight. When I looked back there was someone entirely new standing there.

"Where am I?" He asked looking around. "Orochimaru?"

"Ah, Minato Namikaze. The man who took my seat as Hokage. How's death?"

The man named Minato looked confused for a moment before realizing what happened. "You reanimated me?" He went to move but was stuck in place.

"Sorry, we can't leave here until Madara returns."

"Madara?" He gazed around as if expecting to see him coming toward us, then his eyes stopped on me. _She looks around Itachi's age._ _Why is there a child with Orochimaru and Madara?_

"It might be a while." I said simply, sitting across from him. "Can you tell me about your village?"

"Are you an Uzumaki? Your hair looks like Kushina's."

I looked up at him and his face turned to shock when he saw my sharingan. "My mother was an Uzumaki, my father was Uchiha."

"You're so young... how did you acquire your sharingan?"

"I watched my parents get killed by leaf anbu."

"I'm sorry that happened to you. That was very insensitive of me to ask."

"That's alright. It was a long time ago now. Madara has been taking care of me ever since."

Obito phased out of the ground. "Glad to see you succeeded Orochimaru. I need your help with the extraction of the nine-tails and the seal to put him into Kyo." He walked over and knelt in front of me. "I'm going to knock you out for this. Are you ready?"

"Hai."

…

I opened my eyes and found myself in a beautiful room. _Where am I?_

**"You're facing the wrong way."**

I froze. Someone's here with me. I slowly turned around and came face to face with the nine-tailed fox. He smiled at me.

I was shaking slightly, but forced myself to calm down. "My name's Kyo."

**"I'm usually not friendly with humans..."** _But that red hair. _"My name's Kurama."

I ran up and gave him a hug. "It's so great to meet you!"

**"It's good to meet you too, since we'll have to start working together that is."** A scroll appeared in front of me and Kurama smirked. **"This is a summoning scroll. When you sign it, you'll be able to summon me whenever you need. I'll help you train on how to properly use my chakra and some other fun things as well. Or you can just summon me to hang out."**

I squealed with excitement. I quickly bit my thumb and signed the contract. "Thank you Kurama-sensei. I'm looking forward to sharing a body with you."

He chuckled. **"See you soon, Kyo-chan."**

I slowly opened my eyes and Obito was sitting on the edge of my bed. I sat up and rolled my upper body, cracking my back in the process.

"Why does it feel like I haven't moved in a while?" I asked Obito suspiciously.

"Probably because you haven't, it's been a few days since the seal was performed. You look different now by the way, you have red eyes with a cat slit and whisker marks." We walked into the main room where another bed was set up. "Have you made contact with the nine-tails yet?"

"Yeah, we're conscious of our co-existence." I smirked at him and he pushed me onto the new bed. "What's this?"

"Phase two of making you stronger." A couple of zetsus walked over carrying various medical supplies. "It's nothing crazy, we're going to add Hashirama's cells to your body. It'll help with future healing and you won't need to eat anymore."

"So no more questions about poo?" I raised an eyebrow at Swirly and he looked disappointed. "Let's do it."

Chapter 4

"Your first mission is infiltration. Madara had a connection to Konohagakure and that's where you will be living for a long time. I need you to become one of their ninja, a part of their family."

"Will I see you at all?"

"Sometimes. Once the plan really starts moving, I will be busier. The Hidden Leaf's security is also rather tight, so it won't be as often as you may like."

"Alright."

Obito walked over to me and gave me a hug. "Don't worry. This won't change anything between us, I will miss you."

"I'll miss you too." I whispered.

"It might be lonely for a while, especially if they have you living alone."

"What's the connection into the village?"

"His name is Danzo. He's head of the Leaf's Anbu... and has been for a long time." He looked at me hard and I knew what he meant. Danzo made the order to kill my parents. "Don't trust him."

"Don't underestimate my judgement."

Obito looked around suddenly and stood up. "He's here."

A shadowed figure appeared at the edge of the hideout. I felt my hair stand on the back of my neck, a bad feeling immediately engulfed me. _How could anyone trust someone with this kind of aura around him?_ He approached with three other figures wearing masks. I recognized the gear they were wearing from when I was younger. They were anbu. I took one last look at Obito before approaching Danzo. I stared at him silently, no introduction made.

"I am very eager to see her skills, Madara. I assume you trained her well?"

"I can speak for myself." I stated before Obito could respond.

"Come now child. That is no way to treat your superior... We must be going, I do not want the Hokage to discover our whereabouts. We have much to do before you meet him." Danzo rest his hand on my shoulder, I almost shook him off, but his grip tightened and we teleported to ROOT headquarters.

"Kyo, we will be testing your skills today to gauge what your rank shall be here in the village, as well as your anbu team placement. Your opponent, or shall I say opponents, will be three of my top ROOT anbu. I think that it is safe to have my expectations quite high, considering where you came from." Three anbu appeared behind Danzo. "Since the only thing I know about your past is that you were trained by a very infamous shinobi, I only have one question: what village were you originally from?"

"My sensei found me abandoned. When the Uzumaki clan was massacred, there were only a few known survivors. Whoever my parents were abandoned me because they were on the run and couldn't carry the burden of a child." I said, excluding the important detail that he killed them.

"Very well then. Prepare yourself, Kyo. I told my anbu to attack with intent to kill. Hajime!" Danzo jumped out of the way and watched as his anbu engaged with me.

*Flashback*

**"Kyo, I know that Obito is training you in all different types of Jutsu, but he cannot train you on how to properly utilize my kekkei genkai. First, we're going to put some gravity seals on you to make you faster."**

"Tails?" I asked. I knew that Kurama himself had nine tails, hence the name he had been given. But what did that have to do with me?

**"Yes." **He swished his tails behind him as if to make a point. **"When you are in combat you are able to activate up to nine tails, but you must train to be able to reach that many. You will be able to access one for now, but as your fox-sage training commences, you will be able to unlock more."**

With that statement, he showed me the hand seals to use in order to activate the first tail. It was incredible. The tail had a fiery glow to it and embers were sparking off, it was long, probably around double my height and quick.

**"The gravity seals will help with controlling it. It's faster than you would think. As you unlock more tails, you will also evolve your dojutsu. My bloodline has a kekkei genkai called the kenryokugan. With this you are able to manipulate your jutsu at will, and once you activate a certain number of tails, you can influence other users jutsus as well."**

*End Flashback*

"Come on boys, let's dance." I said activating my dojutsu and two tails appeared behind me. Right now I am only able to unlock around three tails, depending on my chakra levels and concentration. It is way harder than I initially anticipated. With the four tails comes the kenryokugan. I'm not sure what that will look like when I eventually unlock it, considering I also have the sharingan.

I flipped backwards a couple of times and while upside down on my last flip I wove the hand seals for one of my favorite jutsus, only because it looks really cool.

"Fire Release: Burning Ash!"

I exhaled an immense amount of ash from my lungs, engulfing the three shinobi quickly. When it was so dense that I couldn't see their outlines anymore, I bit down hard, igniting the room. I landed softly and waited. To assume they were done for with one attack would be foolish of me, so I waited for the ash to clear.

Two shinobi were still standing, one was burnt on the ground. I had picked up on a wind jutsu being activated to clear the ash right as I ignited it, that probably led to his downfall. Before it cleared completely I saw one of the shinobi weaving signs and quickly wove some of my own.

"Wood Release!" Long trunks of wood emerged from the users arm and rapidly approached me.

"Water Release: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death!"

I activated another tail and used all three to block the oncoming wood assault. It pushed me back a few steps, but the wood began to burn from coming in contact with my tails. The anbu quickly released his arm from the wood and was about to retreat when the needles engaged. He quickly jumped up while his partner collapsed to the ground.

_He found the only weakness in that water jutsu with ease, he's truly a worthy opponent._

"Enough." Danzo jumped down from his viewing point and walked over to the two of us. "You show great promise, Kyo. How many elemental affinities do you have?"

"Five, sir." I stated.

"Impressive. You are worthy of being an anbu captain with your performance here today, but you are still far too young. I'll place you on a squad that is level with your caliber."

I nodded and bowed.

Danzo turned to the other anbu. "Clean up the mess here and take the other two to the hospital. We need to make sure they survive, they are squad leaders after all."

"Hai."

"As for you Kyo," Danzo walked past me and I followed. "Come with me to meet the Hokage." He threw a mask behind him and I caught it. I smiled when I noticed it was kitsune.

…

The third Hokage sat at his desk holding his pipe. The wrinkles on his face seemed to sag more than usual today, gravity weighing on the poor old man. A three-year-old boy sat across from him, his blonde hair sticking up all around his head.

"Naruto, you need to stop vandalizing the village. Do you want to make friends?" The old man asked quietly.

"This isn't fair, gramps! I didn't do anything." The young boy whined, clearly lying due to the paint that splattered his body.

There was a knock on the door and they both turned toward it. "Come in." Sarutobi said.

"Hokage." Danzo stated entering, I followed close behind him.

"What is it, Danzo. I'm speaking with Naruto right now." He paused when he noticed me. "Kitsune? I thought that mask had been retired?"

"We have a new anbu that is going to be important to this village. She is worthy of this mask and probably the best anbu that we have seen in a long time."

"Who is she?" Naruto asked, not recognizing my red hair.

"Kitsune, you may take your mask off." Danzo stated. I removed my mask and attached it to my waistband. "This is Kyo. She is new to the village, a man I knew a long time ago was training her and said he wanted her to experience a village."

"What village did she initially come from?" Sarutobi asked, taking a long inhale from his pipe.

Danzo glanced down at Naruto who was clearly interested in the conversation. "I think we better continue this conversation in private."

"Naruto, you are dismissed. No punishment for now, just stay out of trouble." Sarutobi stated, still eyeing my red hair.

Naruto grumbled as he dragged himself out of the room. I watched him go. _I wonder who he is, his eyes were so sad._ As the door clicked shut it was silent for a while. Danzo listened for the sound of Naruto's footsteps to disappear down the hallway before continuing.

"She was abandoned as a child, but it is in your best interest to integrate her into the village. She's an Uzumaki." He continued.

Sarutobi nodded, as if already understanding. "Of course she can join the village, even if she wasn't an Uzumaki I would have accepted her. I will call for someone to show her around the village and to her new home immediately. Danzo you are dismissed, Kyo you may stay, I'd like to get to know you."

Danzo slowly turned and exited the room. Once the door clicked shut I let out an audible breath. I felt myself relax and let a smile grace my lips.

"I can tell that you don't like Danzo, you were incredibly tense standing next to him." Sarutobi said as I took a seat in front of his desk.

"Yeah, my sensei had told me many stories about him. I was unhappy when I discovered he would be my connection into Konoha. I'm glad to be here though."

"Who was your old sensei?" He leaned back in his chair, also relaxing now that Danzo was gone.

"A very old man from a powerful clan. He passed away a few years ago." I felt my throat catch at the thought of Madara.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Unless Danzo gives you up, unfortunately you will be working under him rather than me for now. That will be good experience for you though." He looked at my red hair again and sighed. "Who were your parents? You don't see Uzumakis anymore."

"My mother was an Uzumaki. They fled Uzushiogakure when it was attacked. My earliest memories were running through forests. They were killed when I was still a child, that's when my sensei took me in."

"You said your mother was an Uzumaki, who was your father?"

I sighed and looked down for a moment. "When I watched my parents get killed... something happened to me. I didn't realize who my father was until later on when I learned about specific dojutsu." I looked at him with my sharingan. "My father was Uchiha."

Hiruzen blinked at me a couple times and summoned a ninja into the room. They spoke quietly for a moment before the ninja disappeared. "I'm sorry that you had to witness that. I know a good family for you to live with. They're Uchiha and can help you with your sharingan. They also have a son your age."

There was silence for a while before I spoke up. "Who was Minato?" I asked.

The Hokage looked shocked by my question. "He was the fourth Hokage. How do you know him?"

"I've heard of him, just curious."

"He was a very powerful Hokage, young too. He died a few years ago when the village was attacked."

"I'd like to know more about him."

"We can talk more another time, maybe when you're older."

With that, there was a knock on the door. I sealed my anbu mask into a scroll. "Come in."

"You summoned me Hokage-sama?" A boy walked in.

"Shisui, I need you to escort our new member of the leaf around." Sarutobi said standing up, I stood up and followed him over to Shisui.

"Here's your official hitai'ate for Konoha." He said, handing me a black headband.

I bowed to Sarutobi and took the headband from him. I tied it around my head and let my hair fall over it. We then turned back to Shisui.

"She's new to the village and will be living with you, get to know her and maybe spar a little. I'm curious as to how powerful she is."

He nodded and we left his office.

Chapter 5

"I'm supposed to train today with a friend. Would you want to come?" Shisui asked looking over at me. We were both the same age and were pretty formal for being only 11 years old.

"Sure. Are they also Uchiha?"

"Yeah, he's pretty talented too. They say he's a prodigy."

"I hear that word thrown around a lot." I whispered. Shisui looked over at me and I could tell he had a lot of questions, but knew better than to ask. He'd find out if we sparred anyway.

We arrived at a clearing in the forest and a younger boy was already there waiting. He was throwing kunai at a target stuck to a tree, and when he heard us coming he turned around.

"Itachi, this is Kyo. She's new to the village. Is it okay if she spars with us today?"

He gave a small nod and Shisui smiled at me. "I'll let you two go first just to see what you can do, Kyo."

I felt happy around other kids. It was new. Obito was a lot older than me and I never was around people my age. While we were all fighting, I could tell they were a lot like me. _I wonder if all kids are like this._ The sun started to set after a couple hours and we made our way back to the compound. When we got there I saw more kids running around and playing. They didn't seem to know as much as us, maybe they hadn't seen someone die yet. Is that normal?

Shisui and I went into his house and were greeted by his parents. We had talked before arriving there, his father had been severely injured in the last war and was starting to forget the people around him, so he may never know me. He seemed glad that I was going to be a part of their family, maybe because I was an anbu and could help with bringing in money.

"What rank are you?" I asked Shisui. We were sitting in my room after dinner.

"Jonin."

"Are all 11-year-olds Jonin?" I asked.

"No, most ninja are 13 when they become genin. Uchiha seem to make exceptions though." He turned and seemed to analyze me. "You're an anbu, right?"

"Yeah. Danzo was my connection into the village."

"Be careful around him."

The next day I went back to anbu headquarters to meet with my team. I felt anxious, which was new for me. I didn't really know what being an anbu meant, my only experience involved the death of my parents. I stood outside a meeting room and could hear a lot of voices inside. They all sounded a lot older than me, closer to Obito's age. I grit my teeth and opened the door, the talking halted and everyone turned to me.

"Kyo?" A man asked, moving from the back of the room toward me.

"Hai." I closed the door behind me and made my way forward.

"My name is Kakashi Hatake, I'm going to be your squad leader on Team Ro." He gestured behind him to another man who looked only a little older than me. "This is Tenzo, he's on our team too."

We walked out and made our way to the main room where Danzo was going to assign us our mission. "You are to deliver a scroll to Iwagakure. It has crucial information involving our peace treaty. Protect it at any cost."

We left on our mission in silence. Kakashi was in front with Tenzo and I following behind. We were travelling through a field when a group of unmarked shinobi attacked us.

"What village are you from?" Kakashi announced to the twenty shinobi around us.

"Copy-Cat Kakashi, looks like this is where you'll die."

They all advanced at once. We decided earlier that I would carry the scroll, I was new to the village and unknown to the world. I would be underestimated. Tenzo and Kakashi both had their hands full with their opponents, but there was a moment of hesitation before anyone attacked me. A loud shout came from behind and I activated one of my tails to catch my assailants blade. I turned slowly and stared at him with my sharingan.

"Don't be naive." I growled and forced the blade through his chest. An angered scream came from my right as more shinobi moved in. I flipped into the air and summoned another tail, thrusting two kunai into the back of their heads, crashing them together.

Five more ninja froze a few feet away from me. I unsheathed my sword and took a fighting stance. "Come on boys, let's dance." There was a pause as some leaves rustled past before a roar was released and they charged at me, clearly infuriated by my arrogance.

The screams subsided one by one, eventually leaving only the now bloodied field. I sheathed my sword and turned to my teammates. They both held curious looks on their faces before we continued to Iwa. The rest of the mission was peaceful. We provided the scroll and returned to Konoha in record time. I was summoned by Danzo after Kakashi turned in the mission report.

"I think your teammates underestimated you." He stated, facing away from me. I remained silent, waiting to see where this conversation was heading. "You killed 8 men today without any hesitation, looks like you're perfect for our organization. You have impressed me."

"Thank you, sir."

"I'm sending you on a solo mission. There was a situation after your team left earlier." Danzo turned around and grabbed my shoulder, teleporting us to another compound. A dead man was on the floor and there were other older men in the room. "This was Hizashi Hyuga, he died to prevent our village from going to war. To you, and the rest of the world, he is Hiashi Hyuga."

I saw a man tense out of the corner of my eye and noticed he was identical to the dead man.

"You are to go to these coordinates with the body and deliver him to Kumogakure. We'll have your team following behind you, but at a distance. Make sure that war is avoided."

I nodded and summoned two of my tails. I carefully picked up the man who saved us all from war, and carried him out of the room. I shunshined to the front gate and proceeded out, nodding at the guards as I went past.

After a couple hours, I reached the meeting place. There was a clearing in the forest, as I approached the edge I could see five shinobi waiting in the center. One was moving about oddly and another looked mildly annoyed. I walked out into the open and they all stood still, faces stoic. I stopped 20 feet away and lay Hizashi on the ground gently.

"Is that Hiashi Hyuga."

"Yes."

"I am the Raikage, A. These are my direct subordinates. Do not try anything."

"I could say the same to you." I smirked when he glared at me.

_**Hey kit.**_

_Kurama, I'm kind of in the middle of something._

_**You see the man with the tattoo on his cheek?**_

_Yeah?_

_**He's the eight-tails jinchuuriki. Try shaking hands with him, I need to talk to Gyuki.**_

They retrieved the body and we stood there in silence for a moment. I stepped forward and extended my hand to the Raikage. "I hope this peace will last." I stated. A rejected my handshake so I moved on to the man Kurama had mentioned.

"You seem pretty cool, kid. Pound it." He held out his fist and I returned it. When our knuckles touched we were brought into my mindscape.

**"Gyuki."**

**"Kurama? What's going on here."**

**"I'm here to warn you. This is Kyo, she's very important." **When he said that he stared intensely at Gyuki. An unspoken communication seemed to pass between them.

"I thought a young boy was supposed to be, the nine-tails jinchuuriki?" Killer B rapped in confusion.

**"It's complicated B, don't tell anyone that she is though." **Gyuki instructed seriously.

"Alright I get it. I can read the situation. If this is a secret, it could be our salvation."

I rolled my eyes and we exited my mindscape. I went to step back and a kunai was brought to my throat from behind. Without missing a beat, I whipped one of my tails around the assailants throat and held him above the ground. I jumped back a safe distance and stared at the men in front of me.

"If you move, he will die. You have Hiashi, why start another war?"

"Konoha sent you alone. They are naive."

"If you underestimate me, then this man is not the only one who will die."

"Hey now brother, there's no need for hostility. We got what we wanted, let's go back to our city."

A's fists clenched and he started to walk away. I threw the shinobi at them and turned away myself.

…

The meeting with the Hokage and Danzo took a few hours after I returned to the village. I spoke with them about handing over Hizashi and how they tried to attack me, but I diffused the situation. Hiruzen said I should return in the morning so we could speak more about my future in the village, but to go home for now.

I walked through the Uchiha compound slowly. It was late and everything was still. As I walked over a bridge toward the back half of the compound a glimmer near the other side of the water caught my eye. I recognized the chakra signature and bolted across the water.

"Obito!" I tackled him to the ground and couldn't disguise my joy.

"Come on, let's take cover and talk for a while."

I followed him into the surrounding forest and we sat under the canopy of trees. "How are you doing? What have you been up to? I want to know everything."

"Unfortunately I can't tell you everything. I don't want you knowing too much and getting into trouble with Konoha in the future. I've been good otherwise though. I'm setting some events into motion that will greatly help our cause in the future. What about you?"

"Anbu is going well. I'm standing out a lot compared to some of the other ninja here." I paused for a moment because I could feel Kurama's unease. _I'll ask him about that later._ "I prevented a war tonight."

"What? A war? How?"

"I delivered a body to the Raikage and solidified peace between Konoha and Kumo for the time being."

"You really are incredible. Just be careful, okay? I don't want anything happening to you."

"Don't worry. I'm living with the Uchiha so they're helping me with my sharingan."

Obito smiled and ruffled my hair. He looked at my hitai'ate and I watched his eyes gloss over for a moment.

"Kakashi is my squad leader in the anbu." I stated rather quietly.

Obito's face changed to anger and he put his hands on my shoulders. "Take care of yourself. Don't leave your life in Kakashi's hands. He won't be able to protect you. He can't protect anyone." He stood up and looked around for a moment. "Someone's coming, I have to go."

"No don't go yet! Please stay a little longer." I frowned and looked up at him.

"I love you, Kyo." He hugged me, and before I knew it, he was gone.

I clenched my teeth to prevent myself from crying.

"Kyo?" I turned around and saw Itachi walking toward me.

"What are you doing up so late?"

"I waited up for you. My dad was talking about the Hyuga ordeal and I wanted to see how you were doing."

I sat down across from him and took some dango out of my pack. I held one out to him and he smiled gratefully. "I'm doing ok. Preventing war is a big deal, but it wasn't terribly difficult to execute in this case. I was just a vehicle for peace this time around."

We ate quietly for a while before Itachi spoke up again. "How did you acquire your sharingan?"

"My parents were killed in front of me a long time ago." I glanced over at him and saw he was jealous. "I understand that you want the power that comes along with the sharingan, but don't go rushing into it. It's a terrible ordeal watching someone die. The sharingan only brings pain, but with pain comes great power."

"And vice versa." He whispered, bringing his knees to his chest.

The sky turned to a faint shade of lavender and I sighed. "I'm sorry I kept you up all night. You should go home and get some rest."

"You too. See you soon." He waved as he ran home. I smiled to myself and receded into my mindscape.

Chapter 6

"Kurama?"

**"Glad you stopped by, I missed your company."** He wrapped a tail around my waist and lay me on his other tails. He was curled up like a cat and it was nice to lay around with him.

"Why were you so agitated earlier when I was talking to Obito?"

**"Thank you for not telling him about Gyuki."**

"I sensed that you didn't want me to. Could you tell me why?"

**"It's complicated. You'll find out when you're older, I promise."**

I sighed and covered my face with my arm.

**"What's wrong?"**

"Why does everyone keep telling me that? They can trust me with diffusing war, but not simple questions?"

**"They aren't simple questions. You're smarter than you think, the things you're asking don't have easy answers."**

We lay in silence for a while. Both of us were lost in our own worlds and I felt his chakra joining with mine. We did this often, we'd both meditate to synchronize our chakras. Kurama filled the hole Obito had left when we separated.

After a few hours, I made my way back to the Hokage tower. I always looked forward to my meetings with Hiruzen, he was wise and didn't treat me like a kid. He saw me for more than that. I was walking up the stairs slowly, lost in thought, when a kid bumped into me and we both fell to the ground.

"Oh! I'm really sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going!" A tiny voice yelled bowing.

"You're alright, I wasn't paying attention either." I smiled at the mess of blonde hair. "It's Naruto, right? I'm Kyo."

He gave me the biggest grin and wiped some paint off his cheek. "Yeah! Nice ta meetcha."

"What's your favorite food, Naruto?"

"Ichiraku Ramen of course!"

"How about this. Do you want to meet me here in a couple of hours and I'll treat you to a bowl?"

His eyes sparkled and I could see his excitement. "Sure! Thanks, Kyo!" He gave me a big hug before running down the stairs with his arms out like a bird.

"That was very sweet of you." Hiruzen said emerging from around the corner.

"His eyes are beautiful but so sad. Could you tell me about him?" We walked to his office and I sat down across from his desk.

"Naruto is an orphan, his parents died when he was being born. The villagers all hate him and call him a demon. You can see past all that though probably." Hiruzen took a drag from his pipe, the wrinkles on his face deepening.

"His father was Minato, right?"

Hiruzen gazed at me for a while. "Yes. That is a village secret though." He paused as if considering his next words carefully. "He's also the nine-tails jinchuuriki. It's why the people call him a demon."

"My master had told me about the attack on the village, is that why he's hated?" My chest hurt at the thought. _Did Obito and I cause this child's pain?_

"Unfortunately. The villagers can't seem to separate that incident from a child who was barely alive for it. He is the nine-tails to them."

"Could you tell me more about Minato?"

"You're wise for your age."

"I've seen a lot."

He chuckled and took another drag. "I'm sorry you have. You've lost your childlike innocence." He turned around in his chair and looked out the windows at the village. "Minato was an incredible man. The village loved him. He was a hero of the third great shinobi war and became Hokage short thereafter." He sighed and turned back around, rubbing his face as if trying to reverse the wrinkles. "He died protecting the village he loved."

"You don't have to tell me anymore. I can see it's hard on you."

"Yeah well, an old man like me shouldn't still be Hokage."

We talked for a long time about my future in the village and what he assumed Danzo would expect of me as time went on. He'd seen it all before. He gave me advice and told me about the other villages and their strengths and weaknesses.

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"I need to pass my knowledge onto someone. You'll be a strong adviser to this village someday. I know that you'll do great things for us all."

I left his office with a lot in my head. He gave me plenty of answers, but most left me with even more questions than before.

_Hey, Kurama?_

_**Yes?**_

_Who was your previous jinchuuriki?_

_**Kushina Uzumaki. Minato's wife and Naruto's mother. Uzumakis made ideal jinchuurikis due to their sealing techniques. Most techniques are lost now due to their near extinction.**_

_Can you tell me more about her later?_

_**Sure.**_

Small arms wrapped around my neck and an excited squeal filled my ears. "Kyo!"

"Naruto." I smiled at him and started walking us to Ichiraku's. "I'm glad you came. I've been wanting to buy you ramen for a while now."

"Of course I came! I'll never turn down ramen, ya know!"

As we made our way through the village I paid careful attention to the villagers and their sneers. I glared at each of them and made sure to keep Naruto smiling. I dropped him on one of the stools at Ichiraku and he kept giggling.

"Hi Naruto!" Ayame said coming over and scruffing his hair over the counter.

"Ah, Naruto! I see you've brought a friend." Teuchi smiled and I couldn't help but smile back.

"This is Kyo! She's buying me ramen." Naruto grinned and we all laughed.

"Well that's very nice of her." Teuchi gazed at me for a while with a nostalgic look. _She looks like Kushina._ Tears started to form in his eyes at the thought of Kushina and Minato bringing Naruto here. _I'm glad she's here._

Ayame saw her father's face and quickly intercepted the conversation. "What can I get you two?"

"One pork miso ramen please!" Naruto shouted in excitement.

"Make that two."

"Coming right up!" They started hurrying around the kitchen and I looked down at Naruto who was bouncing in his seat.

"So, Naruto. Where are you living right now?"

"I have my own apartment! Gramps stops by a lot and checks on me and makes sure I'm eating." He smiled so big for a child who had no one.

"Would you want to show me after we're done eating?"

"Sure!"

"Order up!" Ayame set the two steaming bowls in front of us and a bit of drool formed in the corner of Naruto's mouth.

"Itadakimasu!" We both said in unison.

"Eat as much as you want." I smirked at Naruto and his eyes glittered.

"Be careful saying that, this kid can eat a lot." Teuchi added leaning on the counter.

"Oh, can he? Good thing I'm buying, he is a growing boy after all."

As Naruto started scarfing down bowl after bowl, Ayame and I started talking.

"You're new to the village right? Where were you before?"

"I traveled all over the place with my sensei. He took me in after finding me abandoned. This is the first village I've ever lived in."

"That's neat! Have you seen lots of other villages then?"

"Actually I haven't. We tended to avoid villages. We did a lot of meditating in the different biomes around the villages. Mountains, oceans, lakes, deserts, forests, you name it. We were more comfortable in nature."

"That's amazing. How'd you end up here?"

"My sensei had connections to Konoha and I came here after he passed away. He wanted me to experience a village."

"What do you think?"

I noticed Naruto had slowed down a bit and was listening to our conversation. "It is rather wonderful here. I do find myself isolating at times since that is what I'm accustomed to." I looked over at Naruto. "Who knows, maybe I'll take you around the world when you're older."

"That sounds amazing, ya know!" He jumped out of his seat and I caught his bowl of ramen in the air before it spilled.

I paid our bill and thanked Teuchi and Ayame for the delicious meal. They asked me to come back again soon and to tell more stories about my travels. They hadn't traveled very much and wanted to know what the world was like. I wish I could tell them about how wonderful it was. Most of my experiences were on the darker side.

Naruto and I raced to his apartment. I let him win because he knew where we were going, but that didn't seem to occur to him.

"Ta da! Isn't it great!" He seemed genuinely excited to show his apartment to someone and it made me feel bittersweet. _I wonder if anyone ever comes over?_

There were empty instant ramen cups scattered around the tiny living room and bedroom. Expired food was in the refrigerator and on the counter. There were a few pieces of discarded clothing scattered around. Other than that he didn't have many possessions, definitely no toys. This isn't the way a child should be living. I saw him yawn out of the corner of my eye and I picked him up and put him in his bed.

"You should take a nap, don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."

I spent the next few hours cleaning up his apartment. I left a note on his fridge in case he woke up while I was gone. I took the trash out to the dumpster and walked to the nearest market to get him some more food, treats, and clothes. Everyone was so lovely and pleasant to me while I was shopping. _I doubt they treat Naruto this way when he's trying to get food and clothes._

_You said Kushina was an Uzumaki, right? Like me?_

_**Yes. She was brought to the village to become the next jinchuuriki. She was a tough kid, exceedingly strong and witty. You remind me a lot of her actually. I assume the village feels the same, especially when they see you with Naruto.**_

_So I'm related to Naruto then?_

_**You're family.**_

I was heading back to Naruto's apartment with a multitude of bags when Kakashi jogged over to me.

"Hey, Kyo. Shopping?"

"Just picking up some stuff for a friend."

"Need some help?" I handed him a few bags and we started walking over to Naruto's apartment.

"Who'd you buy these clothes for?" He asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

"Naruto. That poor kid needed food and clothes." I paused for a moment, lost in thought. "He needs parents."

"He's had a hard life for someone so young."

I took the groceries from Kakashi and thanked him for the help. He gave a small salute before going the other way and I walked into Naruto's apartment. He was still asleep so I started cooking dinner.

"What's that smell?" Naruto mumbled from his doorway rubbing his eyes.

"You're up just in time." I moved the food over to his table and he hurried over.

"I didn't think you'd still be here!" He said happily. "Thanks for the food, Kyo."

"I got you some more food and there are new clothes in your closet too." His eyes glimmered a little bit and he wiped a tear away. "I'll be helping you from now on, okay? No more rotten food, I promise."

There was a knock on the door and Hiruzen entered. He looked surprised to see me sitting there.

"Kyo, what're you doing here?" He asked, sitting at the table.

"I made plenty of food, would you like some?" I asked. He smiled and I got him a bowl.

"Kyo got me a bunch of food and clothes! Isn't she the best?" Naruto grinned through the food in his mouth.

"Did she now?" Hiruzen looked at me in surprise.

We all talked for a long time and after an hour Hiruzen and I left. I told Naruto I would see him soon and gave him a hug.

As we walked through the streets more people looked at us than I would have expected.

"You've got the people talking."

"Oh?"

"A new girl who looks like Kushina taking care of Naruto, that's a pretty big move."

"That boy deserves a family."

Hiruzen rummaged in his pocket and put something in my hand. He held my hands in his for a while before speaking again. "I know you'll be the best family he could ask for."

I opened my fingers to see a key to his apartment.

"He needs you."

Chapter 7

The anbu can really take a lot from a person. It's been three years since I joined under Danzo's command and I'm different now. I understand why my parents were killed. When you're given orders from that man, you follow through. There's this fear I have now of what might happen to me if I failed a mission. Three whole years. I haven't failed a mission yet and it's gained me a reputation in the village. Even when I'm with Naruto, people come up to me and thank me for protecting them.

Apparently, I make people feel safe.

Naruto has started school and he's 'playing class clown' as he likes to tell me. I know he isn't any good at school, I never had the attention span for it. I have started to train him though. I wish I knew some of the Uzumaki sealing jutsus. His classmates are starting to learn their clan's techniques and I wish I could teach him his. We've gotten really close, I see him like a little brother now.

He asks me about my missions a lot but I can't tell him anything since I'm sworn to secrecy. Even if I could tell him, I still wouldn't. It isn't something I would brag about and it isn't something I'm proud of. There's a reason I'm cloaked in darkness, that's all the organization is.

I was heading to ROOT headquarters for a mission when Tenzo intercepted me. "Did you hear? We have a new member in our squad."

"Oh? Who's that?"

"Itachi Uchiha."

"What? No..." We both started running to headquarters and when we got there Itachi and Kakashi were already talking about the mission. I couldn't stop the worry from creasing around my eyes.

"Hey Kyo." Itachi smiled at me and I returned it.

"I'm glad Itachi was assigned to our squad, he told me you guys spar together. I assume your teamwork will be exceptional?" Kakashi looked at the two of us.

"I guess you'll have to see for yourself." I looked over at Itachi again and a slight frown pulled at the corner of my lips.

"Itachi and I will be going on a two-man mission, so you guys are off the hook this time. We'll spar when we get back and work on our formations."

"Hai." We all said and went our separate ways.

I was walking through the Uchiha compound when Shisui waved at me from a tea shop. I glanced over and waited for him to pay before he caught up to me.

"Tea?" He asked, handing me a steaming cup.

"Thank you." I took a sip and looked up at the clouds. "Itachi is on my team in the anbu."

"That's good." I looked at him in surprise and we went and sat on one of the docks nearby. "There's been talk within the compound, the Uchiha are upset with their treatment from the village. There's a meeting tomorrow night, would you come with me?"

"Itachi should be back from his mission by then, will he be coming too?"

"I believe so. The situation isn't looking great."

The following evening Itachi, Shisui, and I made our way to Nakano Shrine for the meeting. The Uchiha walking around us were all talking, some with excitement about the meeting, others mumbling about the village. The three of us remained silent. Fugaku sat at the front of the crowd, facing us. We stayed toward the back listening carefully.

"As most of you already know, my son Itachi has been accepted as an anbu by the village. We are all very proud of him. He will serve as a pipeline for information from the higher-ups in Konoha. Itachi do you have anything you would like to report?"

Itachi stood to address the group. "I am new to the anbu so there isn't much that I know just yet. But I can see that there is solidarity among the leaders. For change to happen, both sides will need to cooperate."

"Yes, thank you, Itachi."

The meeting continued on for a while. Most of the clan voiced their opinions on the recent treatment of the Uchiha, especially after the relocation. People within the village still blamed them for the nine-tails attack that happened six years ago. The Uchiha didn't trust the village, and the village didn't trust the Uchiha.

After the meeting, the three of us went into the forest on the outside of the compound and sat where we usually trained. It was silent for a long time.

"This isn't going to end well no matter what happens." I whispered.

"The Hokage has assigned me a secret mission to try and mend the bonds between the clan and the village. I don't know how to go about that just yet though." Shisui added.

"We need to devise a plan. We're the only people who can because we are trusted by both sides. At least for now." Itachi took out a kunai and started drawing in the dirt.

We wrote pros and cons to both sides, what the village wanted, and what the clan wanted. We looked at both of their perspectives and knew that each side was going to have to give something to gain another. We sat there all night so we had something to present to the village leaders before the next clan meeting.

…

Shisui, Itachi, and I stood in the Hokage's office. At the table were the village advisors, Hiruzen, and Danzo, all speaking about the Uchiha coup d'état. We all sat patiently as they mulled over the information we provided and had been planning for a few days.

"What is your plan, Shisui?" Hiruzen asked.

"During the meeting, we assume that Fugaku will propose a coup. Kyo and I will be present at the meeting and when he is about to suggest it, I will perform kotoamatsukami and diffuse the situation. Fugaku will believe it is what he truly desires since he will adopt my will. Kyo will be there to support the decision-making and provide further suggestions to influence the clan further." Shisui stated before kneeling again.

"And we are to trust these kids with such a dire situation?" Homura asked, clearly anxious about a civil war.

"You trusted me with Hizashi Hyuga, you can trust us with this." I looked at all four of them and Hiruzen nodded.

…

I was sitting at the meeting alone. _Shisui is late. Something is wrong. _Most of the clan had already arrived and the meeting was about to begin. Some people were whispering and looking at me, it made me miss Itachi and Shisui that much more. I stick out with my red hair in a sea of black. Fugaku cleared his throat at the front of the room.

"Thank you all for coming." I watched his eyes scan the room and his jaw clenched when he noticed Itachi and Shisui were absent. "Kyo, where are Itachi and Shisui?"

"Itachi is on a mission, I am unsure as to where Shisui is." I bit my lip anxiously.

"It can't be helped. We must begin."

He spoke of the same things as the previous meeting. I could feel the people around me getting riled up and their bloodlust grew. They wanted revenge for their isolation. They wanted their positions back. They wanted power.

"We need to show the village leaders that we are not to be suppressed. We have power far greater than they could even imagine. We must act now, before it is too late!" The clan cheered and I stood up.

"And what do you mean by that?" I asked, staring Fugaku down.

"We will start making preparations to act."

"We can't fight them! This is our village. We just got out of a major war, if we start something now then the village will split. We know we did nothing wrong when it came to the nine-tails attack, we don't want to feed the fire. We have to give them a reason to trust us, this meeting is doing the opposite."

"The village is already split, Kyo. They view us as the villains."

"If we fight it'll tear the village apart. Innocent people will die. Other villages could attack too."

"That is enough, Kyo! You are not the head of the clan. Sit down and be quiet."

I sat down and murmurs surrounded me.

_Traitor._

The meeting was over and the clan exited. I sat on the floor by the door as they left. Glares were cast my way and I just kept staring at my shoes. Fugaku stopped at the door before exiting and sighed.

"I was a bit harsh back there, I'm sorry. I know you have the right intentions but this is the only way for them to hear us. Otherwise things will never change." Fugaku left without waiting for a response. I didn't plan on giving him one anyway.

I sat there alone with my head in my hands. I knew something bad had happened for Shisui not to show up. I receded into my mindscape and looked up at Kurama.

**"It can't be helped. You did everything in your power, but Fugaku is right, you're not the clan head."**

"I don't want anyone else to die. There aren't bad guys here. Both sides are right and wrong. All this village knows is fighting." I collapsed on his tails and we sat in silence.

"Kyo." I opened my eyes and Itachi was standing there. The expression on his face told me everything I needed to know, but he spoke anyway. "Shisui committed suicide."

I looked down at my knees and I couldn't hold myself up anymore. Itachi put my head in his lap and we sat there staring ahead.

Shisui's death silenced the rebellion for quite some time. The Uchiha lost a powerful shinobi and the whole clan was mourning the loss. But it wouldn't stay that way forever, one death cannot put out the fires of war.

Chapter 8

"You ready?" Kakashi asked, sending a look in my direction. We had been following a squad who was delivering a scroll to Suna for a few days now. I sensed around twenty shinobi to the east of their location. We were sent in secret to follow them since there were rumors of rogue factions wanting war.

"Try to keep up." I teleported to their location and activated three of my tails.

"What the-"

"Tail Devil." I spun around, pointing my tails in all directions, slicing the men in my immediate vicinity. Their blood splattered me and I activated my fourth tail and new dojutsu, the kenryokugan. When combined with the sharingan my eyes turn completely black with the red irises, the tomoes speared with white lines.

"Summoning Jutsu." I stood in the middle of the enemies and three foxes appeared in a triangle on the outside of the circle. "Fox Nap."The lines in my eyes started to tick backward, the foxes eyes mirrored mine and the shinobi all collapsed to the ground.

"You made quick work of them." Kakashi muttered, rolling his eyes.

"I didn't want to alert the team." I took out my sword and went around slashing their throats. No survivors, Danzo's orders.

Kakashi and I started to make our way back to the village. "Are you doing okay?" He asked eyeing me carefully. We'd worked together for more than five years now, we knew each other well enough. "You've been more bloodthirsty since Shisui died."

My heart clenched at the thought. It made me think of the clan. The village. The reason I evolved another tail. I had to be stronger. The coup was starting to go into motion and Itachi and I were preparing for our last resort.

"I'm fine. Just following orders."

Kakashi said he would write the mission report so I made my way across the village. Itachi and I had been working day and night on trying to find a compromise before the coup, but nothing seemed plausible. I shook my head to remove the thoughts until later and entered an all too familiar apartment.

"Kyo?" Naruto ran around the corner from the kitchen and his smile glimmered. "You're back from your mission!" He jumped into my arms and I spun in a circle.

"Of course. I brought you something too."

"Really?" He closed his eyes and waited patiently. I always tried to bring him something back when I went to other villages.

I knelt down in front of him and took out a special kunai. It was almost the same style as Minato's but with a slight change that would remind Naruto of me. He opened his eyes and his jaw dropped. "Whoa this is so cool."

"I had it custom made when I was in Suna." It was three-pronged and had a swirl engraved at the base. "The swirl is for my Naruto."

Over the past few years I had gotten Naruto nicer furniture for his apartment and a bookshelf for the trinkets I brought him from missions. He was eight-years-old now and I kind of spoiled him. He dragged me into the kitchen and pulled a burned cake out of the oven.

"I made you a cake! I thought you would be home today." He grinned and set it on the stove.

"Let's let it cool and then we can decorate it together after dinner."

"Okay!"

I needed moments like these. Naruto reminded me of why I was fighting for the safety of our village. I couldn't have anything happen to him. If a civil war broke out, he would most definitely be dragged into it. The power of the nine-tails is a terrifying thing, and both sides would want it. I had to prevent that, he was still too young to understand war.

I stayed in his apartment until he fell asleep for the night. I didn't like that he was still living alone. We both were at this point. I'd been saving up to buy a house for some time and hoped to speak with Hiruzen about it the following day. I wanted to adopt him. I wanted to live with him.

I shunshined to Itachi and I's meeting place and he rolled his eyes when he saw me.

"You're late."

"Sorry, I have an eight-year-old to take care of." I smirked at him and pulled a cigarette out of my pocket.

"You don't have to take care of him." We'd had this conversation before and he was just teasing me. "The Uchiha are planning the coup, officially now."

"Since when?"

"There was a meeting last night while you were still on your mission. We don't have a choice anymore..." He put his head in his hands.

"Itachi... I know someone who can help us." He looked at me in confusion. "Before I came to this village I traveled around with my sensei. He raised me and took me in after I was abandoned. He is also an Uchiha."

"Who?"

"Me of course." Obito stepped out from behind a tree and I couldn't help but smile.

"This is Madara Uchiha." I gestured toward him and Itachi masked his shock.

"I will help you annihilate the Uchiha. As for after, I invite you to join my organization, the Akatsuki." He looked over at me and sighed. "When did you start smoking?"

"You try working under Danzo and not resorting to bad habits." I looked over at Itachi. "We'd be able to keep in touch. Are you sure you don't want me coming with?"

"We can't have that. I need you to stay in the village, that is your mission." Obito said.

"He's right, you have Naruto and I need you to keep an eye on Sasuke too." Itachi added.

"So it's decided then." Obito murmured.

Itachi left to meet with the village leaders about our plan and tell them we were to execute it that night. We'd been working for months on ways to prevent this tragedy, but to no avail. There were going to be no survivors except for Sasuke, Itachi, and I. My story was that I stayed the night at Naruto's, where I was planning on heading after the mission. Itachi would leave with Obito to join the Akatsuki.

"I won't be able to come into the village as frequently anymore," Obito said sitting beside me. "The village has noticed the breach in the barrier."

"Danzo has started sending me on solo missions. Could I meet up with you when I'm on those?"

"Potentially. I don't want them to suspect you. I'll follow your movements and make contact when necessary." He paused and looked up at the sky. "It's time."

Chapter 9

Itachi was gone. Obito was gone. My clan was gone.

I woke up on Naruto's couch to a knock on the front door. Kakashi was standing there with Hiruzen, the looks on their faces were grim. I stepped outside and we walked to the Hokage tower.

"The only survivors are you and Sasuke." Kakashi whispered.

I looked down at my hands. The blood that covered them from the night before was still ingrained in my memory and would probably never leave. I can't imagine what Itachi might be feeling. Now the world is hunting him and I get to stay here... How is that fair? _All of this is my fault to begin with._

_**We're going to talk later. I can't have you blaming yourself for all of this.**_

I sighed. "How's Sasuke?"

"Still unconscious. He's under Itachi's genjutsu."

"Lord Third, I would like to go wait for him to wake up. May I meet with you later?"

"Of course."

I went to the hospital and sat next to Sasuke's bed. His face was distressed and I knew what he was seeing. His clan members, his family, being slaughtered by us. He woke up slowly. His eyes were glossy as if it all were a dream. He started crying when he recognized the hospital room and saw me sitting by his bed. Me. Not his family or anyone else from the clan. Me.

I reached my hand out and he took it gratefully. He cried and we sat there, nurses came in to check on him and cleared him to "go home", where would that be now?

"Sasuke?" He looked up at me, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Would you want to come live with me and Naruto? I saved up enough money for a house. I would like to adopt you."

"Thanks Kyo. I think I want to live on my own from now on though." There was an anger in his eyes. I knew he harbored hatred for Itachi and it hurt me to see it building within him.

"You will always have a place with me. I'll get you the address when we move in. You're free to stop by anytime, okay?"

He nodded. "I think I'm going to get some more sleep. I'll see you later?"

I gave him a small smile and left for the Hokage tower.

I knocked on the door, emotionally exhausted from the past couple of days.

"Kyo... Are you doing alright? You look like you haven't slept in weeks."

"I haven't." I collapsed in the chair across from him. Hiruzen and I had gotten close over the years. We talked in his office often. "I'd like to adopt Naruto and buy a house."

Hiruzen looked shocked at this development. "And Sasuke?"

"He declined my offer, he wants to live alone. I can see the hatred for Itachi already building inside him."

He reached into his desk and pulled out some adoption papers for me to sign. "Are you sure you want to adopt him, you're only 16."

"I'm sure. We need each other right now more than ever." I signed the paper and gave them back to him. He dropped a key in front of me. "What's this?"

"The key to the Uzumaki estate. It's been passed down ever since Mito was brought to the village when it was founded. I would like you and Naruto to live there."

"Sir, I won't be able to afford a place like this."

"Consider it a gift for adopting Naruto." I grinned at him and ran around the desk and hugged him.

"I know this is informal but thank you for everything." He hugged me back and told me where to find the house.

"Naruto!" I yelled walking into his apartment. I had an envelope for him with the adoption papers in it and the key to our new house.

"Kyo!"

"I have an early birthday present for you."

"Really?" He grinned and I held the envelope out to him. He carefully opened it and the key fell out. He looked at me in confusion before realizing there were papers inside. I watched him read it and tears slid down his cheeks. "You... adopted me?" His voice was hoarse and he fell into my arms.

"I love you, Naruto. We're going to be a happy family. I promise."

Part Two

Chapter 1

_So much has changed._ I set my book down and stared at Kurama who was sitting across from me on the couch in his human form. It gets lonely living in this giant house alone, it's nice that he keeps me company. It's been around two years since Naruto left to train with Jiraiya. Two whole years.

I'm the lead anbu under Danzo and most of my missions are done solo. After Kakashi left to become a Jonin squad leader his spot was filled by Yahimaru, now one of my closest friends along with Tenzo. We do missions together sometimes too, but recently I haven't seen them as much. Danzo has me running intel more and more now. I've actually become very antisocial. Kurama and I spend most of our time training and meditating when I'm not on missions.

Ever since the Uchiha incident, I haven't gone out as much. I met Naruto's friends from the academy and watched him at the Chunin exams because I was guarding Lord Third... but then he died too. I know Kakashi noticed my sudden disappearance. I felt like everyone was being taken away from me.

I groaned and Kurama opened his eyes.

"What the matter?"

"I miss Naruto."

"You've said that every day since he's left." Kurama mumbled eyeing me sympathetically. "He's fine, Jiraiya is taking good care of him."

I sighed and flopped onto the floor.

"What's wrong now?"

"I'm being summoned."

I shunshined to ROOT headquarters in my mission gear and knelt in front of Danzo. I noticed I was alone in front of him and felt my heart drop. _Another solo mission... _As much as my antisocial-self hated it, solo missions really took it out of me. I'm lucky to have Kurama in the first place.

"This is an assassination mission that is crucial for the village. We can only entrust it to you." Danzo stated, his monotone ringing through the halls. "There's a group of unknown ninja outside of the village, I need you to gather intel and eliminate them."

"Hai."

I was jumping through the trees, keeping an eye out for my targets, but I couldn't keep myself from receding into my mind. I'd gone on 172 solo missions since Naruto had left two years ago. I did missions with Yahimaru and Tenzo too, but not too frequently. Danzo liked me as his cold-blooded killer. I felt the hole in my chest growing. I had lost people, I was always alone, I was a killer. I didn't even know what Obito was doing anymore. _I don't have a purpose._

_**Get your head on, this is a mission.**_ Kurama said, trying to get my attention.

_What am I doing, Kurama?_

_**Currently? Jumping through the forest tracking some ninja.**_

_Not what I meant. I had a purpose when I lived with Madara, I had a purpose when I lived with Obito, I had a purpose with the Uchiha, I had a purpose with Naruto... Now they're all dead or gone. Naruto is all grown up, he doesn't need me anymore..._

_**Kyo, we can talk about this later. Now is not the time for an existential crisis. Pay attention. Three ninja up ahead.**_

I crept in one of the trees and saw three ninja huddled around a fire below. They were eating dinner and I knew this would be the ideal time for me to drop in. I slipped from the branch and landed twenty feet away. I stayed silent and they all huddled on the far side of the fire, a young boy standing in front with a kunai.

"What do you want?" He asked, his voice shaking.

"You're in hidden leaf territory, what is your business?"

"We're on the run, we're only going to be in the land of fire for tonight. Please let us go."

I looked behind the boy and saw that the older man was injured and the woman was not dressed as a shinobi.

"Why are you on the run?"

"No more questions!" The boy shouted and threw a kunai in my direction. I dodged easily and began walking toward them.

"I suppose I have gotten the intel I needed." I stated quietly.

I ran forward and unsheathed my sword. The woman screamed as the boy slumped to the ground. _Don't worry, you'll be out of your misery soon enough. _I cut her down quickly and moved onto the man. He coughed up blood and stared at me. The look was unforgiving. He couldn't speak. He just kept looking at me with an intensity I envied. My hands shook as I brought the blade down.

It was completely silent as I made my way back to headquarters. Blood covered my hands and most of my body. _The look on his face. _Memories came flooding in as I remembered that night. My parents. They were slaughtered by leaf ninja for just passing through. _What have I done?_

"What did they want?" Danzo asked, taking in my bloodied appearance.

"They were on the run, just passing through. I tried to get more intel but one of them attacked me."

"I see. Good job on completing your mission."

I stumbled home, it was early morning by now, the sun just cresting over the village. I was walking through the streets, blood dripping down my body when Kakashi intercepted me.

"Kyo, are you ok? Why are you covered in blood?" His eye was frantic as he tried to wipe some of it off.

"Just completed a mission." I replied. I looked at his eye and he stopped talking. I knew what I looked like. I knew what he wanted to say. "I need to get home."

And I left.

…

I heard the front door open and my heart nearly stopped. No one had a key here. Kurama disappeared and I activated one of my tails and crept to the corner of the living room.

Silence.

I sensed a chakra signature in the front entryway and I stopped breathing.

"Naruto!" I screamed and ran around the corner, tackling him to the ground. "Whoa you're taller than me now."

"Kyo, I missed you."

"Happy Birthday! I wish I had known you were coming home, I would have planned something."

"Stop, it can't always be about me. I didn't tell anyone so that I could surprise you." He grinned and tears came to my eyes.

"What do you want to do? I know there are plenty of other people who want to see you."

"Actually we were all going to go to the Kyuubi festival tonight. I saw Sakura on my way here and she said she would get everyone together." He paused and eyed me. "She also said that no one has really seen you since I left."

I blushed and shoved him slightly.

"You're coming with me tonight, you need to be social." He dragged me upstairs and threw me into my room. "Get dressed, we're leaving in an hour."

Since becoming a hermit I didn't know what to expect out of tonight. Just like Naruto had heard, I had been extremely antisocial. So this was as much of a reunion for him as it was for me. I picked out some black cargo pants with black combat boots, and a form-fitting grey long sleeve with the Uzumaki swirl on the arm. I was trying to figure out what to do with my hair when the doorbell rang. _Guess I'll just leave it down._

When I got down to the door Shikamaru was standing there wearing a navy t-shirt with the Nara clan symbol, grey anbu pants, and some shinobi sandals.

"Oh hey Kyo. Long time, no see." He said with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey, Shikamaru." I gestured for him to come in and Naruto came bounding down the stairs.

"Shikamaru!" He yelled and put his arm around his old friend.

"Naruto! You look great. We better get going though, everyone is expecting us." He looked over at me and smirked. "And I know a few people who are expecting you as well."

We made our way over to the center of Konoha, festival activities were already underway. Kids were running around with masks and adults were drinking and talking. Music was playing and there were lights strung everywhere. It was a beautiful sight.

"How's the house?" Shikamaru asked.

"Incredible. I've probably read through the library a few hundred times by now." I smiled sheepishly. _Jeez, I probably seem like such a nerd._

"Once I was old enough to see the importance in my family scrolls and heritage I read through our entire library twice."

"Haha nerds." Naruto laughed and I smacked his arm.

"Your clan specializes in the shadow technique right?"

"Yeah, it can be kind of a drag sometimes though."

"I think that's a really cool jutsu. I would love to spar with you sometime and see it in action."

"Yeah sur-"

"Shikamaru! Over here!" We all looked over to where the voice was coming from and saw Ino and Choji making their way over to us. Choji had three sticks of dango in his hands and waved.

"Hey guys."

"Naruto! Look at you, you look like a big shot." Choji said chuckling.

"Nah he looks the same as ever." Ino said.

"You guys remember Kyo."

"Of course. The girl who took on our knucklehead and put him in his place." We all laughed and continued walking down the street.

Ino carried the conversation between Choji, Shikamaru, and Naruto. They all had a lot of questions about Naruto's travels and where he had gone. After a few minutes we browsed around a couple of vendors and Naruto bought me a really neat mask to wear at some ceremony there was going to be later. It had kitsune on it, slightly different from my anbu mask, with more intricate detailing.

Ahead was the rest of rookie 9 and Guy's team. Kurenai, Asuma, Guy, Iruka, and Kakashi were with them too. I scratched the back of my head anxiously. I could feel Kakashi's gaze on me, at least I wasn't a bloody mess anymore.

"Naruto!" They all greeted in excitement. A lot of people surrounded him at once and I slowly made my way to the outside of the circle. Kakashi and the others made their way over to me since my shield had been intercepted.

"Hey, Kyo. Glad to see you out of the house." Asuma joked.

"It's been a while guys, sorry for being quiet for so long." I felt very uncomfortable. _Kami what happened to my social skills._

"Kyo! I've heard a lot about you. Glad to make your acquaintance. I'm Might Guy! I can sense the youth radiating off of you." His grin sparkled and I wondered if he was even real.

"Great to meet you too, Guy. Kakashi has told me a lot about you." I smirked at Kakashi who rolled his eyes at me.

Our rather large group went over and sat at a nearby area that had a bunch of tables set up. We all sat in a weird group circle, some on tables and others standing. Everyone was talking to Naruto about his travels and what he had learned.

"How have you been?" Kakashi asked, finally making his way over to me.

"You ask me that every time you see me." I smirked at him.

"I would quit asking if you gave me a straight answer."

"It's good to have Naruto home."

"It's been two years, you've made quite the name for yourself."

"You make it sound like an accomplishment." I stared at his one eye. He knew better than anyone how the anbu worked.

"We'll be seeing more of you now, right? Naruto's home so you should be more social for his sake."

"I've just had a lot on my mind is all..."

"You can't save everyone. I know that and so do you. Stop blaming yourself." I thought of Minato, Kushina, Itachi, Shisui, Hiruzen, and Sasuke. We'd lost a lot of people since I came to the village. And then there was what happened earlier...

"We're worried about you. You were stumbling through the village early this morning covered in blood."

"I'm sorry you had to see that." I whispered.

"I'm not. You shouldn't hide away from us, we're here for a reason. It took me a while to figure that out... I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did." He smiled at me and I gave a small one back.

"Guys tonight can't be all about me. What about miss red death over here." Naruto chuckled and everyone turned to me.

"You're giving me too much credit." I said, uncomfortable under all the attention.

"Come on. You've saved this village hundreds of times by now, I don't think we're giving you enough credit." Iruka said.

I laughed awkwardly and an anbu appeared next to me. "Kyo, Danzo is summoning you."

"Sorry guys! I'll talk to you later."

Kakashi grabbed my arm before I left. "See you tomorrow." It sounded more like a promise than a request.

I shunshined in a whirl of embers and left them all there.

"Isn't she just amazing?" Naruto asked smiling.

Chapter 2

I first went home so I could get changed into my mission gear. I set the mask I got on my dresser and ran into my closet. I threw on my usual mission clothes, black anbu pants, black sandals, mesh shirt, black vest with red detailing, and my black cloak with red flames at the bottom with the reaper death seal in the middle. I strapped a couple of pouches around my thighs and hips to hold my kunai, shuriken, and various scrolls.

Before I left I ran back to the study where I spent most of my days and opened one of the side closets. Inside was Kushina's famous blade, Reaper Release. The hilt was a dark grey with black fabric woven around it, and the blade was black that faded into a dark red at the tip. _I should probably start getting practice with this beast._

As soon as I strapped it to my back I threw my hair half up, tied on my hitai'ate, and put on my anbu mask. In a moment I teleported to Anbu Headquarters.

When I arrived Danzo was waiting along with three other anbu.

"It was brought to my attention that there are a group of rogue ninja who just crossed over into the Land of Fire. Your mission is simple: find them, gather intel, and execute them." Danzo stated monotonously.

"Hai." We all said in unison and shunshined outside of the village.

We were scanning the perimeter. Sweeping in groups of two, Tenzo was my partner and I felt too relieved. We continued on in silence for several minutes until I sensed three unknown chakra signatures. I stopped and Tenzo followed suit.

"Three shinobi, five clicks ahead." I stated. Tenzo nodded and he signaled for the rest of our team, then we both advanced to their position.

We landed silently, but they immediately created distance between us and took fighting stances.

"State your business." Tenzo said.

"It looks like you're outnumbered, why would we provide intel when we have a clear advantage." The one in front said.

Our team dropped down behind us and Tenzo spoke again. "State your business."

The man in front immediately started weaving signs. My team responded by weaving our own signs or taking out weapons. I activated my kenryokugan and two of my tails. I unsheathed Reaper Release in time to catch one of the ninja's kunai. We jumped a few feet away and began clashing. I was able to push him off his feet and while he was jumping back I wove hand signs.

"Fire Release: Searing Migraine!"

I activated my kenryokugan and doubled the gravity around the rogue ninja. They all fell to the ground and were engulfed by the massive fire jutsu. My team and I temporarily teleported away while the area we were just fighting at was obliterated. When we returned a member of my team walked over to the shinobi and placed his hand on their head, gathering the intel we needed for Danzo.

"Nice work, incredible as always." Tenzo said walking over and giving me a high five.

"Thanks." I deactivated my kenryokugan and my tails vanished.

"I gather the intel, Captain."

"Let's head back." I ordered and we all teleported.

When I returned back home I immediately got in the shower. I stood there for what felt like ages. When I got out I threw on some sweatpants and a t-shirt, I was about to go back to the study when the doorbell rang. I felt the chakra signature wrap around me and ran down the stairs opening the door eagerly.

"Obito-nii!" I yelled and wrapped my arms around him. "How's the Akatsuki?"

"They're fine. A bunch of psychos honestly, except that Itachi... he's the only sane one. But enough about me, how're things here?"

"They're fine. Naruto got back today and he dragged me to the village for the festival. He made me be social." I pouted slightly and Obito sighed.

"You need to be social. You don't want people to think you're up to anything, do you?"

"I'm not up to anything. You're doing everything." I sighed. "They call me a hero. I can't be a hero, not with everything I've done..."

"You are a hero, Imoto. They already know it, you just need to start believing it. Once our plan is done the world will be a place without the pain you're dealing with. They'll thank you then too."

"You're not leaving already are you?" I asked clutching onto his arm and giving him a sad face.

"I have to, Pain is calling me back to headquarters, we need to discuss our future plan." He sighed and wrapped me in a hug. "I love you, take care of yourself ok? Don't get killed." He smiled after saying that and brushed the hair out of my face. "See you before you know it."

…

The next morning Kurama woke me up at the crack of dawn.

_**Time to start training.**_

_Why so early..._ I tiredly thought. I had stayed up late the night before in the study, doing more research on Uzumaki sealing techniques. I don't remember actually getting to my bed last night.

_**I brought you to your bed last night, you were going to be stiff if I didn't. You fell asleep upside down in one of the chairs reading a scroll.**_

I rolled out of bed and fell to the ground, slowly crawling to the bathroom to throw my hair up. When I was walking to my closet I used a summoning jutsu and Kurama appeared on my bed. He was wearing his black vest and black anbu pants, black shinobi sandals and had a black ribbon tied around his flaming hair that flickered around his head.

**"What?"**

"I just wasn't expecting you to show up in human form." I walked into my closet and started changing into training gear.

**"You would've rather had me appear in my monster form and startle the village?"**

"I don't know exactly what I was expecting."

**"Either way, I like your all black and red hair look. I'm gonna copy it."**

I ran back out of the closet and grabbed his hand. "Also, you're not a monster. Now let's go! Training with you is the best way to start my morning."

Kurama teleported us to a training ground and while I was stretching he gave me the rundown on what we were going to try and do.

**"This won't be easy by any means, probably some of the hardest training you've encountered thus far with the tails. It's not going to happen overnight either."**

"Why are five tails so much harder? I thought nine would have been the hardest."

**"They're all difficult. The fact that you were able to get up to four tails already is incredible, to say the least. But five and on requires progression in other jutsus, not just tail training. The easiest way to unlock it is to develop a new trait for your kenryokugan. Evolving it into something beyond what it currently is."**

"How do I do that?"

**"You're going to fight me with intent to kill, when you notice something you wish you were able to do or something that would enhance your fighting, that's what we'll work on."**

With that, Kurama lunged at me. I Immediately activated three of my tails and held him off, jumping a few feet back to start activating a jutsu. This went on for hours, Kurama was more powerful than me and he was holding back significantly, and I collapsed. It was around one in the afternoon and I could barely stand. Kurama came over and sat across from me.

**"Did you notice anything?"**

"Honestly, not yet. I use my kenryokugan to the best of my ability right now... I don't know what more I could ask of it."

**"We'll have to keep doing this then. Every morning until you figure out what you want to change. Then we can stop sparring and work on development."**

I internally groaned. This was going to be exhausting.

…

Morning after morning, Kurama and I trained. He was starting to put more of himself into the fighting because I was finding his weaknesses. After we were done sparring, we both collapsed to the ground exhausted. A very different outcome from the first day we started.

**"You're getting significantly better. I'm tired after fighting you now."**

I grinned at that. "Who knew I could be a pretty decent match for you, dattebayo."

He smiled back. **"Naruto's rubbing off on you. Have you found anything yet?"**

"I've been thinking about it a lot and I think that the most efficient development for my kenryokugan would be to stop time."

Kurama sat up and looked at me. **"You want to be able to stop time."** He said it as if he didn't believe it was possible, or maybe he was in awe that I had come to that conclusion.

"Yes." The determination on my face must have done it for him because he sighed.

**"Alright, we'll start working on that tomorrow."**

"Oye! Kyo!" A voice came from the other side of the field and Kurama vanished. I looked up to see Shikamaru making his way over to me. "Training I assume?" _I wonder who was training with her._ Shikamaru thought.

"Yeah." I lay on my back and looked up at the clouds.

"Are you free right now?" He sat down next to me and looked up as well.

"Sure. What'd you have in mind?"

"Want to come over and play shogi? My dad's been wanting to meet you. You're the only person in the village that can give me a run for my money when we play."

"Sounds fun. I need to shower first though. You can come over to my place while I get ready if you want?"

"Sure." I smiled at him.

I set my hand on his shoulder and teleported us to my house. He looked in awe at the living room and all the heirlooms. Naruto came out of the kitchen eating leftover ramen from the night before.

"Hey, Shikamaru, what's up?"

"I'm going over to his house for dinner. You going to be okay while I'm gone?" I ruffled his hair and he blushed.

"I'm not a little kid anymore!" He huffed and I ran up the stairs to get changed.

Around thirty minutes later I came back downstairs. Shikamaru was looking at some pictures on the wall when I walked in. "Whatcha lookin' at Shika-kun?" I looked over his shoulder to see a picture of Minato and Kushina after Minato's Hokage ceremony. The happiness etched on their faces felt so real, like they were still here with us.

"It's crazy that no one else sees the resemblance with Naruto. He looks like the perfect mixture of both of them."

"Sounds like you have a crush." I wiggled my eyebrows and he laughed.

"Hahaha no. Feel better?"

"Definitely! I felt disgusting when you found me." I had thrown on some black shorts and a grey cut off. After training with Kurama the past few months I had gained some serious muscle. My arms and legs were very toned and I had abs that were visible in the cut off. I think Shikamaru noticed that too.

"You've been training a lot, I can see the results. You should start training Naruto."

"Hey, I have muscle too!" He shouted defensively from the couch.

"Not like her." Shikamaru chuckled.

"Come on, stop giving him a hard time. Let's go meet Shikaku."

As we walked through the village I caught a lot of people watching us. _**Kyo, it's not like you're bad looking. You have a reputation too.**_ I grew a annoyed and started yelling at him internally. I had previously changed his landscape inside me to the base of a volcano, which he had preferred, but when I was yelling I turned all of it on fire and made the volcano erupt. He got really defensive and put his hands up in defeat. I was eventually brought out of my thoughts, stabilizing the volcano before I left, because Shikamaru was talking to me.

"So my dad can be kind of blunt sometimes, don't take it personally."

"Blunt people are the best people. I'm blunt too. I just hope he likes me." I had my arms behind my head, trying not to look as nervous as I felt.

When we arrived at the Nara compound we walked to a house that was slightly larger than the rest. _Clan heads really do have it nice._ We walked in and Shikaku was sitting with Yoshino in the kitchen. She was cooking dinner and talking to him. When we entered they both turned to us. Yoshino looked excited while Shikaku assessed me. _Maybe I should have worn something more respectable. _I wasn't used to having to look nice, I liked being comfortable. Guy also started to randomly challenge me to test my youthfulness, so I needed to be constantly ready for that.

"Tou-san, Kaa-san, this is Kyo." Shikamaru introduced gesturing to me. I gave a small smile and waved.

"Kyo! It's so great to meet you, we've heard so much about you!" Yoshino said and came over to hug me. I gladly returned the hug, it was so warm and comforting. I don't even remember the last time I was hugged by a mother.

"Mom..." Shikamaru looked embarrassed.

"Seems my boy is impressed by you, he can't stop talking about how much fun it is to play you in shogi. Seems you've got quite the mind." Shikaku stated, still analyzing.

"Dad!" Shikamaru groaned.

"The rumors said she was powerful, and her looks definitely live up to that. You should train my son." He seemed to be thinking, he was a very important shinobi in the village, on the council even. _I wonder what he knows about me._

_**Probably more than you think.**_ I was surprised to hear Kurama chime in. _**Shikaku's a genius, he knows all the shinobi on squads. He can see how strong you are, he probably knows about most of your mission details as well.**_

_You're probably right._

"We're going now!" Shikamaru yelled dragging me down the hall. "I'm so sorry about that." I could tell he was embarrassed. We went into one of the side rooms that already had a shogi board set up. We sat down and I gave him a big smile.

"I like them. They're both so real. You're lucky to have parents like them." Shikamaru smiled back and moved a shogi piece.

"So, who was that guy you were training with today? I've seen him training with you and I didn't recognize him."

"Oh..." I tried coming up with a solid answer on the fly but it took me a couple of seconds. "He's one of my summonings! He's able to take a human form to help me train."

Shikamaru didn't look convinced but kept the conversation going. "That's cool that you have a summoning, what animal is it?"

"Foxes."

We continued to play for hours. Shikamaru and I were tied two games to two, and I was just about to win when Shikaku walked in.

"How's it going?" He asked sitting next to both of us.

"Great!" I moved my piece to solidify my third win. Shikamaru fell onto his back.

"No..." He said and Shikaku laughed.

"What's the score now." Shikaku picked up the pieces.

"2-3." Shikamaru grumbled pouting slightly. I grinned and both the men smiled.

"I came to tell you dinner is ready, you're more than welcome to stay Kyo. Yoshino insists."

"I'd be happy to." We all stood up and walked over to the kitchen.

Chapter 3

"Kyo, Shikamaru told me that you liked ramen so I made some! I hope you like it." Yoshino walked over and placed the bowls on the table.

"Itadakimasu!" We all said and started digging in.

"I know you've lived here for a while now, but you've been pretty well known since then. Where were you before you came to the leaf village?" Shikaku asked. He and Yoshino were sitting across from me and Shikamaru.

"I'm from the Uzumaki clan, my parents were on the run and couldn't afford to take care of a child, so another shinobi family had taken me in. My family didn't belong to a village so we moved around a lot. Eventually, my sensei died and had me sent here so I would be safe." I said. It was hard talking about Madara still, even though it had been a while since he died.

"Did you have any other siblings in the new family?" He asked.

"I had a brother, he went off to help an organization. I haven't seen or heard from him since then though."

Shikaku looked like he had a lot of questions about the organization but he let it slide. He seemed to know more about me than Shikamaru did, probably because of his standing with the village. Once we finished eating Yoshino went into the kitchen to prepare dessert.

"Shikamaru, why don't you help your mother get dessert ready. I'd like to talk to Kyo in my study." Shikamaru reluctantly stood up and shot me an apologetic glance before he followed his mother.

Shikaku and I went to his study and it was incredible. There were far more books and scrolls in his study than in mine. He caught me gazing around. "Shikamaru told me about your love for knowledge, have you been reading up on the Uzumaki clan?"

"Yes, I have. They were amazing, to say the least. There are also a lot of scrolls and books about the Namikazes as well."

"I've been meaning to ask you, Kyo. What do you do for the village?" He sat down behind his desk and folded his hands. I sat down in a chair opposite him.

"I'm a shinobi, sir."

"Are you kitsune?" His question took me off guard. He saw the shock on my face and took that as his answer. "I brought you here mainly because the Hokage and I want to move you to her branch instead of Danzo's. We think it would be best for you after all these years. She's worried about you. Working under a man like him for ten plus years can really have an effect on a person."

I thought of Tenzo and the men I led. I was genuinely worried about them, I know that they're powerful and can handle themselves... I just loved being their captain because I knew that I could protect them.

"Why do you seem worried?"

"I've grown attached to my squad. I feel this need to protect them at all costs. We all work very well together and are used to each other. We know each other's strengths and weaknesses. It would be hard for me to abandon them."

"Tsunade and I are having a difficult time trying to transfer you, but we could probably try and transfer someone else if that would make you more comfortable."

I sighed. I know that I was asking a lot of them, but it would make me feel a lot better.

"You don't need to feel bad, Kyo. The leaf village understands ties to comrades better than anything. We all have those bonds that we don't want to lose. Tsunade and I will try to work something out, who would you bring if you could?" Shikaku was really good at reading people. _Most people can't get a read on me, yet Shikaku does it with ease... I need to be more careful around him._

"His name is Tenzo. I know he went by Kinoe previously. I need him by my side, he's my right-hand man."

There was a knock on the door interrupting us. "Come in." Shikaku said and Shikamaru entered.

"Dessert's ready."

We both stood up and made our way over to the door. Shikamaru walked next to me down the hallway, he had a concerned look, probably wondering what we talked about.

When we made it to the kitchen Yoshino looked more excited than she had previously. "Dig in!" She gestured toward the beautiful dessert she had made.

I had a really good time with Shikamaru's family, I even made Shikaku laugh a couple times. Shikamaru was walking me home that night and it was really nice. I liked being able to just walk with him. It was still pretty early, the sun was just setting. When we got to my front door I decided to invite Shikamaru inside for a while.

Naruto, Shikamaru, and I all stayed up playing games and talking. I know that Shikamaru and Naruto were good friends since they had been through so much together. I'm making sure that Naruto holds onto those bonds he made so long ago, and I'm making some too. Shikamaru and I were becoming good friends. All of Naruto's friends were becoming my friends, and so were their senseis. It was a weird feeling. I was halfway between the two generations age-wise and I could easily get along with both.

The next morning we all woke up late... sprawled over various pieces of furniture. I got up and stumbled into the kitchen to make some tea. I cooked up a nice breakfast and went up to my room to get changed for training. When I came back down both boys were eating at the kitchen counter.

"Thanks for breakfast, Kyo." Naruto smiled through the food in his mouth and I couldn't help but remember the three-year-old from so long ago. "Isn't she the greatest?"

Shikamaru agreed, nodding with his mouth full.

After we ate Shikamaru had to go home and try to explain to his parents where he had been all night.

_**Now it's time to train.**_ Kurama said.

…

"How in the HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO EVOLVE THIS FUCKING THING?!" I collapsed to the ground, we had made zero headway.

**"It's not just going to click, Kyo. There's a lot of work we have to do in the meantime. Some days we may not have any progress at all. Others, we could complete it." **Kurama sighed and lay down next to me.

"Can we be done for today? I'm supposed to spar with Naruto in an hour and I really need a break."

**"Sure kit."** He vanished in a puff of smoke.

A little while later I woke up on my own. It was a beautiful day, just warm enough that it blankets you with only a light breeze. I shifted over to my side and saw Naruto next to me staring at the sky.

"Nani?!" I shouted and collapsed again.

Naruto shouted in surprise and also fell over.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" I sat up and started stretching.

"I got here early and you looked exhausted. You sure you still want to spar? It looks like you already took a beating."

"Are you implying that I'm going to lose?"

"I'm just thinking I have the advantage..." He grinned and I lunged at him.

Kunai held to each other's throats, we rolled a few times across the training ground. We came to a stop and I smirked, activating my kenryokugan. _Don't worry Kura-kun, I won't use my tails unless absolutely necessary._ I saw him weaving the signs for his shadow clone jutsu and I flipped off him making hand seals of my own. I almost pulled out a big jutsu when I remembered I wasn't fighting for my life, that Naruto was my son, and I shouldn't kill him.

"Shadow clone jutsu."

I matched the number of shadow clones easily and Naruto pouted. "No fair."

"You know you aren't the only one who knows how to multiply."

"Yeah but usually people can't match the amount."

"You're not gonna quit just because your big sister can match your shadow clones are you?" I smirked at him and his small army ran at me.

After a couple more hours of fighting and it being determined that I should use a different jutsu, I won even with the handicap.

"How'd you become so powerful?" He asked, looking up at the clouds.

"My father was one of the most powerful shinobi I ever knew, he trained me hard, so did my brother." _I guess I also had a little help from a certain someone._

_**More than you'd like to admit.**_

_Oh, shut up._

"What did Shikaku want to talk with you about yesterday?" Naruto asked, looking concerned.

"I'm being transferred to the Hokage's anbu."

Naruto sat up and looked at me shocked. "That's great news! Danzo was never good for you anyway."

An anbu appeared next to us and we both looked up at the man. "The Hokage is requesting to see you, Kyo." With that, he vanished again.

"I'll see you later. I think I'm going to be having that party tonight if you want to invite everyone."

"Sounds good. Need me to pick anything up?"

"We can go shopping when I get back. Everyone can come over at 8." I shunshined before I heard a response, knowing it was ok.

Chapter 4

When I arrived in the Hokage's office I was dirty and sweaty, Tsunade looked at me and chuckled slightly.

"Seems you've been working hard. You look good, happy even. Are you doing better now that Naruto's back?" She took a sip of her tea and gazed at me over the rim of the glass.

"I'm glad he's home. I missed that squirt." I sat down across from her, still pretty exhausted from all the training I had done today.

"We were all worried about you for a long time. After Naruto left with Jiraiya you sort of vanished."

"I just had a lot to think about is all. I had lost a lot of people very quickly. I blamed myself for a long time..." _I still do._

"Well, I have some good news for you. Something worth celebrating over tonight." She reached into her desk and pulled out a file. "I was able to transfer you to my anbu, along with Tenzo. You'll both be reporting to me from here on out. Well, I guess I should say you'll be reporting to me and he will be reporting to you. I would like you to be one of my new advisors and captain of my anbu."

_"I need to pass my knowledge onto someone. You'll be a strong adviser to this village someday. I know that you'll do great things for us all." Hiruzen said that to me a long time ago, he was incredibly wise. Arigato, Lord Third._

I was shocked, I thought I was getting transferred, I didn't realize I was getting a promotion too. "Thank you Hokage-sama, I am more than honored to accept."

Tenzo appeared beside me and looked at me confused. "What's going on Kyo?"

I stood up and hugged him. "We're under Lady Tsunade now instead of Danzo, I'm so happy you were able to transfer with me." I felt his arms hug me tighter. We eventually pulled back.

"Since we only work in three-man cells I am going to introduce you to your other teammate, he's actually been requesting to team with you two again." Tsunade looked toward the door. "You may come in now."

Tenzo and I both turned around and when our teammate walked in we were both shocked.

"Yo." Kakashi said giving us his eye smile.

"I want you guys to get to know each other, make sure you start to train together so that you sync up easier for your first mission. You are dismissed."

We all walked out of the office, it was quiet until we made it to the street. I decided to break the silence and jumped in front of them.

"I'm having a party tonight, the one I promised a few months ago before everything got crazy. Be at my place at 8. Or Kakashi should I tell you 5 so you're on time." I smirked at him and he rubbed the back of his head.

"See you then!" I shunshined away and Kakashi turned toward Tenzo.

"It'll be good working with you again. Although, I am worried about her." Kakashi said with a serious expression.

"Things will be different now. She won't have solo missions anymore. She'll have us and won't be able to avoid us."

"I hope not."

"She got the promotion, she's the new captain and an advisor to Lady Hokage." Kakashi was silent for a while and Tenzo spoke back up. "She's a natural born leader. With very strong beliefs and is unlike anyone I've ever seen when she fights. I'm more than honored to be fighting with her."

"Yeah."

I was mulling over the party in my head as I walked home. I had decided a long time ago that I wanted to throw a party for Naruto whenever he decided to get home, but the anbu had me busy and so did Kurama so I never got around to it. Now it seems it'll be a party for the two of us.

"Naruto? We need to run to the market." I went into the living room and saw him collapsed on the couch. _He must be exhausted from training earlier._

_**You did give him a rather hard time.**_

_I need him to get stronger. If I train him hard, I can try to close the gap between us. Everyone gives him a hard time with that._

_**I mean you have the age and experience advantage. He won't be able to reach your level until he masters his Kyuubi.**_

_I don't want him to have the experience I have..._ I sighed and turned to head to the market alone. I opened the door and was startled by Kakashi who appeared to be in the motion of knocking.

"Hey Kyo, you said to be over at 5 so here I am." He smiled sheepishly and I returned it.

"Perfect, you can come with me to the market to get supplies. Naruto is taking a nap and I don't want to wake him."

We wandered down the streets in silence. The breeze drifted past and people talked quietly amongst themselves.

"Kyo and Kakashi! Are you ready to test your YOUTHFULNESS?" Guy shouted, striking numerous poses with each word.

"What're we going to do this time Guy?" Kakashi asked, putting away his book.

"KAKASHI! MY ETERNAL RIVAL! We are on the QUEST FOR YOUTH!" Guy shouted dragging Kakashi and me over to a pre-drawn line.

"Let's just do rock, paper, scissors again." Kakashi suggested in his calm voice, the complete opposite of Guy's.

"That will not due, Kakashi. We must perform something INCREDIBLE! PROVE OURSELVES TO THIS YOUNG PRODIGY!" He pointed at the sky. "A RACE!"

"So if we do race, can we use any means necessary to win? Or are we only allowed to run."

"Only run. Strength and agility are key when in the quest for YOUTH!"

"Let's race to the end of the market then shall we?" I suggested smirking. Kakashi caught onto the look on my face and narrowed his eye slightly.

"Sounds like a plan, Kyo. Kakashi are you ready?" Kakashi nodded and we all took our stances. As a result of Guy's shouting, all the villagers on the street cleared the way and started to watch. "On your mark... Get set... GO!"

Right when Guy said go I released the gravity seals and appeared at the end of the market. Kakashi and Guy had only made it about ten feet in that time span. They both noticed me at the end when they heard the villagers cheering.

"She's faster than the yondaime."

"I couldn't even see her."

"Do you think she cheated?"

"No, I definitely saw a red blur from her hair."

"How... did... you... do... that..." Guy asked as he was huffing.

"Oh! I have gravity seals to weigh me down constantly. I can turn them off when I need to. Should I have kept them on for our race?"

"I NEED TO WORK HARDER! LEE!" Out of nowhere, Lee appeared before Guy.

"GUY-SENSEI!" He shouted in return.

"We will start using these gravity seals to increase our speed. FOR THE POWER OF YOUTH!" Guy had tears running down his face and Lee started crying too.

"If you guys haven't already heard, I'm having a party at my place tonight. Feel free to come over any time after 8!" I said smiling at the green duo. They both gave me a thumbs up in response, still hugging each other and crying.

Kakashi and I wandered around the market for a while. He was carrying all the shopping bags because I have the attention span of a squirrel and kept running back and forth between shops. Once we found everything we needed plus some, I teleported us back to the house.

We decorated the whole house while Naruto was still passed out on the couch, completely unaware of his surroundings. I flicked his temple as I walked past and he grumbled.

"People are going to be here any minute, get up lazy bones."

"Wha?" He rubbed his eyes and looked around. "Kakashi-sensei? Hey, I wanted to help set up." He pouted slightly and I sat across from him.

"You needed rest, I guess my training really took it out of you."

"You do that every day?"

"And then some." I sensed people approaching and opened the door right when Ino was about to knock, startling the group.

"Sorry! I sensed you. Come in!" They all had come as a big group, probably because only a couple knew where we actually lived. Kakashi was finishing something up in the kitchen and walked out when everyone made it into the house.

"Kakashi? You're early for once?" Sakura asked shocked.

"Kyo told me to get here at five to make sure I was on time, but I actually came at 5. I ended up helping her setup since she seemed stressed and Naruto was sleeping." Kakashi stifled a snicker and I smacked the back of his head.

"Sorry I overthink social gatherings and want people to have fun." I said sarcastically. I could tell that everyone was skeptical of our relationship but I broke their thoughts. "Alright, everyone! Make yourselves at home. We got food and drinks in the kitchen, games in the dining and living rooms and the bathroom is down the hall to the left."

Everyone quickly scattered around the place, Hinata making a beeline toward the bathroom. I turned on some music and Tenzo walked over to Kakashi and me.

"First things first, I'm going by Yamato around all these people. It isn't safe for them to know my real name from when I was with Danzo."

"No problem. I think some team bonding is in order." My smile darkened and I felt Kakashi grow tense. "Guy! I summon your youthfulness!"

He practically jumped across the room and saluted us. "What is it, my YOUTHFUL CHILD."

"First, I'm definitely not a child considering I raised a blonde psycho. Second, you won't think that of me after this." I led them to the dining room where a table was set up with some cups.

"What is this?" Yamato asked as I started to pour alcohol into the cups.

"It's a drinking game. There are two teams, each team takes turns throwing this ball into the opponent's cups. When a team makes the ball, the other team drinks. It goes on until one team's cups are gone." I looked at the four of us, trying to divvy up the teams. "Guy and Kakashi, you'll be on a team since you've fought together before. Yamato and I will be on the other team since we have as well."

"Sounds EASY ENOUGH! KAKASHI are you ready to WIN?!" Guy shouted, causing our friends to crowd around the room.

Approximately fifteen minutes later, Yamato and I were crushing Guy and Kakashi. Guy was leaning on Lee heavily and Kakashi was trying to use his sharingan to make the ball in the cup. We allowed the use of jutsus in order to increase advantage as long as you weren't physically getting closer to the cups. I had a massive advantage when using my kenryokugan, I just manipulated the gravity around the ball in order to make it in.

After Yamato and I won, everyone else wanted to start playing. Kakashi looked mildly frustrated and Lee took Guy to the living room.

"We should take away the jutsu rule. You had an unfair advantage." Kakashi said pouting.

"How about this, you all can use jutsus, I just can't."

"I'm gonna take a food break." Yamato said.

"No! I need a partner!" I frowned and crossed my arms.

"I'll be your partner," Kakashi said, heading over to my side, "you seem to have a grip on this game." He stuck his hand out and we did our handshake from when we were on Team Ro.

"You have a secret handshake?!" Ino said. "You guys totally have a thing."

"Nah man. We're just really close." I said bumping Kakashi with my shoulder.

"Shikamaru, come be my partner." Ino grabbed his shoulder and dragged him forward.

And then it started. Since I couldn't use my kenryokugan, it was definitely a closer game. Ino was surprisingly good at playing, and Shikamaru did get us a couple of times with his shadow possession, which I thought was extremely clever. After about an hour we technically won, but we were all drunk at this point. We made our way to the living room where everyone else was playing another drinking game that I had written the rules for. I was too drunk to walk so I was on Kakashi's back with a makeshift paper crown that said, winner.

"I take it you lost then?" Choji asked Shikamaru who was drunk and bitter.

"You doubted our skills?" I asked triumphantly. "We make a really good team."

Ino leaned on Sakura who then proceeded to fall over. We all were laughing and started to play some card games that involved even more drinking. Naruto helped me get off Kakashi's back and fixed my crown which had been very crooked. He couldn't stop grinning.

"Kyo, are you related to Naruto?" Sakura asked. She was sitting upside-down on my sofa looking at her cards.

"Yeah, we're both from the Uzumaki clan." I drew a card from the ring and set it on the cup in the center. "Never Have I Ever guys." Everyone set down their cards and held up three fingers. "Never Have I Ever been to the academy." I said sticking my tongue out at everyone. They all groaned and it moved on to Naruto.

"Never Have I Ever been an Anbu." He bumped my shoulder and Kakashi, Yamato, and I all put down a finger.

After him was Choji. "Never Have I Ever lived outside of the village." Again, I put my finger down.

"I feel like I'm being targeted." I grumbled holding up my one finger.

"Never Have I Ever seen a tailed beast." Hinata said. I gulped and put a finger down.

_**What are you doing?! They're going to start asking questions now!**_

_I know that! You're not the only tailed beast I've seen. I don't want to lie to them Kurama... They're my friends._

_**Don't cause unnecessary chaos, kit. That could end terribly for you.**_

"Kyo, when did you see a tailed beast?" Kakashi asked and everyone looked over at me.

"I used to travel a lot before I came here. I saw Shukaku over in Suna a long time ago, he attacks when Gaara sleeps." I exhaled internally.

I proceeded to finish off my drink because I lost and tried to stand up. Right when I was vertical and standing above everyone else, I felt myself tipping. Kakashi quickly stood up and caught me.

"Whoa there, slow down. Where am I taking you?"

"To the kitchen, dattebayo!" I shouted with purpose, pointing in said direction. Kakashi quickly threw me over his shoulder.

"Naruto's a bad influence on you." He stated. We made our way over to the kitchen and once we were out of sight I flipped over Kakashi's back and made my way over to the island.

"You're fine?" He asked shaking his head.

"What's so wrong with wanting to be carried?" I asked picking up a bottle from the counter and taking a few gulps. "And no, I am _very_ drunk."

Kakashi walked over to me and tried to take the bottle. I smirked when I quickly moved it out of his reach.

"Why are you trying to spoil my fun?" I asked taking another drink.

"I'm not, now are you gonna share or hog it for yourself."

I pouted and handed it over to him and he proceeded to get more drunk like I had. It had gotten quiet in the living room and I could sense a few sets of prying eyes.

"Just because I'm drunk doesn't mean that I can't sense all of you." I said looking over Kakashi's shoulder at the opening into the kitchen. Yamato walked in and I could feel the rest of them going back to the living room.

"I was meaning to talk to you about something," Kakashi said, "Yamato and I know your fighting better than anyone."

We all sat down and I grabbed the bottle from Kakashi again. "Go on." I smirked at both of them and took another drink.

"I want you to spar with us, like all of us at once. There's a group on the rise called the Akatsuki, the squads all need to practice together to get stronger."

"Sounds great, you don't expect me to do that drunk though right? I might accidentally kill them."

"I'm not that dense, we can sometime this week." With that, he stood up, snatched the bottle from my hands, and left.

"He took my drink." I pouted looking over at Yamato. There was cheering in the other room and the sound of someone breaking a glass bottle.

"Should we make sure they're ok?" Yamato asked grinning.

"Yeah... I'll be out in a second."

I went out to my balcony and lit a cigarette. I needed to think for a little bit. It's fun to distract yourself from whatever is going on in life, but it catches up to you rather easily. _I'm their captain... but I've killed so many innocent people._

_**Go back inside. You don't want people worrying, right?**_

_It just looks like I'm smoking a cigarette. I need to think about this anyway._

_**Kyo-**_

_Kurama. I can't ignore it forever. I killed a family just like the anbu when I was a kid. I'm a monster. If everyone inside knew what I had done..._

_**If anyone is a monster it's me.**_

The sliding door opened and I turned around to see Naruto. "You doing ok?"

"Yeah, just needed a cigarette." I turned back around toward the forest behind our house.

"You don't seem ok. This party is for you, you shouldn't be hiding outside."

"I'm not hiding, you found me. Besides, the party is for you, not me. I wanted to throw one for you ever since you got home."

"But you got a major promotion, you should be happy. But you're not." He got really close to my face and eyed me carefully. I leaned over and kissed his cheek which always embarrassed him and dragged him inside, officially ending the conversation.

"YOU have a NEW CHALLENGER!" Guy jumped up and immediately fell back down.

"GUY SENSEI!" Lee yelled and went to help him back up.

"I guess I shouldn't sit then, who's the new challenger?" I asked, cocking my left eyebrow.

"Me!" Tenten announced, standing proudly. She reached down next to her and pulled Lee to his feet. "And Lee."

"Guess we have no choice." Kakashi smiled and we ran to the dining room.

"You should be warned, we have been practicing." Tenten said as we lined up the cups. "We also haven't been drinking as much so we have an edge.

I looked over at Kakashi and saw his frustration. "We're so screwed. I'm struggling to make a successful triangle with the cups."

"I got it." I said, bumping my hip into his so I could take his place. I might have done it a little too hard though because he immediately teetered. I grabbed his hand when he was at a forty-five degree angle and hoisted him vertical again.

"She never ceases to impress me... Even drunk her reflexes are better than most shinobi." Asuma said to Naruto, who nodded in response.

"Your reflexes have saved me a few times now." Kakashi said smiling.

"It's still crooked!" I shouted becoming frustrated with the cups.

Sakura walked over and positioned the cups where they should be and snickered when she saw Kakashi and I's faces. "Good luck, you'll definitely need it." She said. I looked up from the cups and saw that everyone was in the dining room with us. All of them were staring at Kakashi and I with massive grins.

"Yamato you're freaking me out." I said picking up the ball and focusing on the other team's cups. Yamato proceeded to kneel slightly to the left of the table with his face right in my line of sight. "Stop distracting me!" I shouted and threw the ball right at his face. Everyone was laughing until the ball bounced off of Yamato's face and into one of the cups.

"Kyo, you're gonna be holding our team." Kakashi said.

The game was too close for comfort, I was not ready to give up my winner's crown just yet. Tenten and Lee made a solid team. They were both really good together because if one of them missed, the other made it. Kakashi and I were losing, we had one cup left and LeeTen had two. When they sank their last one the room erupted.

"Redemption!" I shouted and looked over to Kakashi. "You've got this."

"What? WHY ME?! You're clearly better at this." He said getting really close to my face.

"Because I have faith in your abilities and I've been drinking most of the cups anyway." I said with my hands on my hips.

"If you say so..." He then proceeded to stretch and aim the ball. He closed his right eye and exhaled, sharingan activated. Time slowed down and he threw the ball. It rolled around the rim of the cup and dropped in.

"Nani?!" Everyone shouted, a couple even fell over.

"I told you I had faith in you!" I jumped on Kakashi's back. "Who's holding this team?!" I shouted, then whispered the next part. "Kakashi! The crowd goes wild." And they were.

Lee tried a bounce shot and I activated one of my tails and smacked it before it went into the cup. There was an uproar.

"Where did that tail come from?"

"Was that a jutsu?"

"God her reflexes back at it again."

"It's so pretty."

"Kawaii!"

"Kyo, you know you can't use jutsu." Yamato said with hands on his hips.

"Shit I forgot." I said, taking a shot. I kept my tail flicking behind me, it was comfortable and acted as counter-balance since I was still on Kakashi's back. I was definitely not able to stand on my own anymore. Lee got a rethrow and tried another bounce shot, which I smacked away with my hand this time.

"Jeez again?" Asuma said. Kurenai helped him back up, chuckling to herself.

"She is an anbu captain." She said.

Then it was back to us. I threw the ball from Kakashi's back and it rolled inside one rim then went into the other cup. That's when the room fell into chaos.

"Cha! That counts for TWO!" Sakura said smacking her hand down on the table. There was a minor earthquake and everyone fell silent as Tenten threw the last ball, bouncing it off the rim and onto the floor.

"The reigning champs, dattebayo!" I yelled. "We need to make you a crown!" I jumped off Kakashi's back and ran into the kitchen, hunting for some paper and markers. He followed me and handed me the materials that were literally right in front of me. I heard the other room start whispering and I started to make the crown.

"You're a badass when it comes to drinking games, we should do this more often." I said, focusing on my handwriting which still turned out shaky.

"I think we should to, we make a really good team." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Yamato and I are really glad you're our captain, you're one of the most capable shinobi in the village. It's an honor really."

I placed the crown on his head, but his hair wasn't really cooperating. "You give me too much credit." I turned toward the entryway for the second time that night. "I know you guys are listening." I raised my voice a little and heard scrambling in the other room. There was a loud crash and groan.

"GUY-SENSEI!" Lee shouted, then there was another crash.

We both headed to the living room and Lee was sprawled over Guy and both were crying. Everyone else was laughing and looked over to us when we walked into the room.

Shikamaru activated his shadow possession and made everyone bow when we walked in.

"Look Kyo, our royal subjects await." Kakashi stated rather regally and gestured for me to walk ahead of him.

Chapter 5

The next morning I woke up on the couch with Naruto and Kakashi laying on top of both of us. _The last I remember we had made those crowns..._

_**It's 9 am... you didn't go to bed until at least 6. Why are you awake right now.**_

_Wait, what time did we make those crowns?_

_**Maybe like 3:30? 4?**_

_I DON'T REMEMBER THE LAST TWO HOURS._

_**You didn't miss much, just more drinking. Oh! And then you played strip dare.**_

_Strip dare?_

_**Yeah, you either do the dare or take off a piece of clothing.**_

_Thank kami I'm wrapped in bandages._ I quickly removed myself from the couch without waking anyone and ran to my room to put some clothes on. When I got back downstairs I started to find people's clothes and fold it next to them so that when they woke up it would be there. A few people didn't have blankets and were just laying somewhere half-clothed and I found blankets for them. Kakashi, Lee, Tenten, Asuma, and Ino were said people.

After I finished playing mother hen I went into the kitchen to try and start breakfast. But before I could do anything I remembered what happened the night before and collapsed to the ground, leaning against the cabinets with a hand over my face. _What have I done? I don't deserve parties, I deserve to be killed._ I started to choke on every breath I took and Kurama materialized in front of me.

"**Kit calm down... Everything is going to be ok." **He hugged me and helped me with my breathing until I was stable again.

"Why is this happening?" I said in frustration with tears threatening to spill. Kurama helped me stand up and he sat me at the counter with a cup of tea.

"**I don't know... You need to get your head on. Danzo gave the order, you had to obey otherwise who knows what he would have done to you."**

I nodded and took a drink of the tea. "I love jasmine tea, dattebayo." I whispered breathing in the aroma and taking another drink.

"**You're such a dork." **His ears twitched and he turned back to me.** "Someone's awake. I'm always here to talk, you know where to find me." **He gave a wolfish grin before disappearing again.

Sakura stumbled into the kitchen and looked surprised to see me. "Kyo! I didn't know you were awake." She instantly covered herself and started to put her clothes on.

"Yeah, I usually wake up early. It's really hard for me to sleep in. Want some breakfast?"

She grinned at me and sat down at the island. "I would love some. My head is killing me though, got anything for that?"

I threw a giant bottle of painkillers at her and poured some juice.

"This is a huge bottle..." She trailed off and raised an eyebrow at me.

"I figured everyone would wake up hungover so I bought the biggest bottle they had." I grinned.

"Did you anticipate everyone missing clothing?" She chuckled.

"Nope!" I cracked a couple of eggs in a pan and threw some bread on the stove.

"Us girls were thinking about heading to the bathhouse later, you wanna come? It'd be nice if we could all get to know you a little better."

"What, was tonight not enough?" I asked putting the eggs on a plate and grabbing the toast right as it popped out. I placed the plate in front of her and ran to the pantry and returned with a mountain of spreads and jams. "Pick your poison." I sat across from her and drank my tea.

"I mean, I know that you're really good at drinking games and are a powerful shinobi, but not a whole lot outside of that." She smirked at me over her toast. I felt my face turning pink and I sensed some bodies stirring in the other room.

"I would love to go to the bathhouse with you guys." I turned back to the stove and started cracking more eggs. _I wonder why she's doing that?_ Sakura thought, watching me make ten more eggs. Then there was a muffled scream in the other room.

"WHERE is MY oh. It's right here." A minute later Tenten walked into the kitchen and stretched. "Did you fold everyone's clothes?" She asked me and sat next to Sakura.

"Yeah, I didn't want anyone freaking out. Oh, wait! You almost did." I turned around and grinned at her, bringing her a plate of food.

"Itadakimasu!" She said and started to dig in.

More people started to trickle into the kitchen as time went on. Each one asking about their clothes, where painkillers were, and how I was such a good cook. At the very end of the pack, Kakashi stumbled in, crown wedged in his gravity-defying hair.

Small talk ensued while we all ate and eventually Kakashi got everyone's attention. "Kyo and I talked about this last night but I wanted to run it past all of you while we're all here." He said, then he looked over at me. "You do remember what we talked about last night, right?"

I groaned and rolled my eyes. "I wasn't _that_ drunk until after our last sake match." Everyone laughed and Kakashi continued.

"Lady Tsunade just assigned Yamato, Kyo, and I to a team and I wanted to gauge her skills. SO, I thought it would be a fun _bonding_ experience if we all went up against her." He left out the Akatsuki and focused positive energy on me instead. _I'm gonna have to ask him about that later._

"All of us? Isn't that a bit much?" Neji asked.

"According to Yamato, Kyo was an anbu captain. She commanded around a hundred men at one point, and she's now the captain of Tsunade's anbu and one of her advisors. I think that this would be the smartest approach." I stifled a chuckle as Neji grumbled.

"Wait really?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah! The party was supposed to be for her, but she made it for me instead." Naruto said. "I'm glad Kakashi-sensei mentioned it, she deserves it."

"Meet at training ground 7 on Friday?" Kakashi asked.

"I hope you're not too attached to that training ground, it might not be there when I'm finished." I said, leaning back on my stool.

"Big words." Asuma said, shoveling down his sixth egg.

"It's justified." Yamato came over and patted my back. "Great party, Kyo. See you in a couple of days."

After breakfast, everyone decided it would be best if they went home and tried to relax. I walked everyone to the door and received varying forms of thanks ranging from Neji's wave to shouts and hugs from Guy and Lee.

"I had a blast! Thanks for the invite Kyo." Tenten smiled and gave me a hug. The rest of the girls followed suit.

"Anytime, my home is always open to all of you."

"Bathhouse at 7?" Sakura asked.

Yeah!" Ino said.

"Were we not invited?" Kiba asked with a laugh.

"We're not allowed in the girl's bathhouse Kiba. We're guys." Shino said monotonously from behind him.

"I know that! I meant the guy's bathhouse..." We all laughed and agreed to meet.

"Hey Tenten, wanna meet at training ground 11 at 3:30? I would love to spar with you." I grinned at her.

She immediately started glowing. "Sure!"

After everyone had left it was just Naruto and me.

"Ready to help me clean up? Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu." I sent my clones to start running around and Naruto followed suit. It took us a grand total of five minutes to clean the entire estate.

I went to my room and got cleaned up for my spar with Tenten. After I was done changing I found Kurama sitting cross-legged in the middle of my room.

"What's up?"

"**You holding up ok? You had a panic attack this morning."**

"Just trying not to think about it." I tied my hair up and tried to walk past him but he grabbed my arm.

"**Sit. We're talking about this. You don't want it coming up later do you?"** He raised an eyebrow at me and I sighed.

"You're right... I have a busy day today." I flopped down across from him and he placed his hand on my head. "What're you doing?"

"**Shh. I'm gonna see if I can figure out why your mind is so distracted."** I stayed quiet and he closed his eyes.

…

**"Hmm."**

"What?" I was on edge, he had been sitting silently for a couple of minutes now.

**"You need to stop bottling up all your emotions. All the people you lost are tangled up in here, it's really tense actually."** He took his hand off my head and opened his eyes.

"Are you turning into my therapist? It's not like I can talk to anyone else about all this."

**"Whatever helps clear your heart. You're taking all this pain on alone when you don't need to and it isn't your fault. You blame yourself too much, you'll end up like Sasuke if you're not careful."**

"Not funny."

**"It wasn't supposed to be."**

I dropped onto my back and groaned. "What now? Should I stop worrying about it and just act like it never existed?"

**"I wouldn't dwell on it, that's for sure. Just live for now, think about the future. You can't help that it's happened, you just have to learn from it."**

After Kurama and I's chat we both went into the library to study up a bit on kenjutsu and bukijutsu. He pulled out a bunch of scrolls from the Namikaze and Uzumaki clans. The one that caught my eye was an entire scroll on the proper way to wield Reaper Release. We sat there reading for a long time, Kurama piping up every once in a while with something useful. Eventually it was 3 and I closed my scroll. I walked over to the bookshelf and opened one of the drawers, sifting for a while before pulling out a sealing scroll I had read a couple of months ago.

**"Haven't you already read that one?"**

"I'm taking it for Tenten to look over."

**"Look at you, being considerate."** Right when I was about to chew him out, he vanished._**I'm gonna take a nap.**_

_AKA I'm gonna shut you out._ When I received no response I left my house and started to head toward the training ground. I could've just shunshined there but I hadn't taken a run for a while. I increased my gravity seals by one and started jogging, eventually working my way to a sprint. I was zipping past people when someone shouted my name.

"Oye! Kyo!" I turned around and saw Iruka waving at me.

"Hey, Iruka! Long time no see." I grinned and wiped the sweat from my face.

"Training?"

"Yeah, heading over to spar with Tenten."

"Shouldn't you conserve your energy if you're going to be fighting someone?"

"When I'm running from an enemy do you think they'd let me take a breather?"

He chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, you're right. Wanna grab dinner at Ichiraku's? I know you love ramen."

"Definitely. Meet there in two hours?"

He hummed in confirmation and I waved before sprinting to the training ground. When I got there Tenten was meditating, she opened one of her eyes and immediately looked alert.

"Why were you sprinting?! Are you okay?" She looked genuinely concerned. When I gave her a tired smile she visibly relaxed and sat back down.

"Sorry to worry you. Just needed to warm up."

"You call sprinting a warm up?" She laughed as I started to stretch across from her. "Then again, you look like you could rival Guy and Lee in a race. You _need_ to be my trainer."

"That's why we're here right?" I stood up and unsheathed Reaper Release. "Ready to begin?"

She jumped to her feet and pulled out various weapons. "Let's go."

We sparred for about an hour. Tenten went through most of her weapons and scrolls. I had agreed in advance not to use any of my jutsus so that the match was more even and would help both of us with our wielding. Tenten collapsed to the ground and I was panting slightly, she is very talented with her weapons.

"How are you so fast?" She said, gasping for breath.

"Gravity seals, you should try them, it'll help make you faster." I tossed her a scroll and she caught it, but immediately let her arm fall back to the ground.

"What's this?"

"It's a scroll on sealing. Some of the information in it might be beneficial since your technique centers around weapon sealing. There's also a section on gravity seals. I can show you how they work now." I proceeded to activate a 2x seal on her and her knees bent a little, her leg muscles flexed.

"Kami! This is hard. How do you even get out of bed in the morning?"

"You get used to it after a while. You get stronger if you keep them on constantly. Once you feel like there isn't any effort in your regular activities anymore, you can up the seal."

"What's yours at right now?"

"10x. Now, I want 100 laps around the training ground, then 50 push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups."

"You sound like Guy-Sensei." A look of determination crossed her face and she started running.

Once she finished she fell on the ground. Completely wiped. I was impressed, to say the least, she finished all of it. _Guy really knows how to train his students_.

"You did awesome. I'll help you back to your house so you can rest, keep doing this training regimen every day and you'll be significantly stronger. It'll never be easy to get through it all, but it won't be nearly as hard. Once you're at that point you'll also barely notice the 2x seal."

"And then I up it."

"You got it, dattebayo!" I gave her a thumbs up and my award-winning smile.

"Thanks, Kyo-Sensei." _Sensei. I like the sound of that._ I smiled internally and picked her up.

"What're you doing?" She asked, not struggling in the slightest.

"I'm running us to your place. I missed my usual training today because of the party, no days off!"

"You're ridiculous."

I started sprinting us to her house, the same pace I had used to get to the training ground. A lot of people stopped to watch when we made our way through the streets. A couple even hollered at me motivationally. She gave me directions to her place and after a few minutes, we arrived. Her parents opened the door and Tenten wobbled inside. They smiled and thanked me for bringing her home. I started walking towards Ichiraku and when I got there I was a little early so I sat on a stool in the shop.

"Kyo! How are you? It's been a while." Ayame walked over and leaned on the counter. "Tou-san, Kyo's here!" Teuchi emerged from around the corner.

"Hey-o Kyo, want the usual?" _What a dad. _I thought, giving him a big smile.

"I'm actually meeting a friend, but when he gets here I will be having the usual."

"I'll have the same as her." Iruka sat down next to me gave a small wave. "And I'm buying, I just heard about your promotion."

"Wouldn't that make me buy, I'll be making more now." He laughed.

"Just let me pay, I always did for Naruto, I want to do it for you too." I sighed and gave in.

"What was the promotion?" Ayame asked while preparing the ramen.

"Oh, um." I chuckled awkwardly.

"She got promoted to captain of the Hokage's anbu and she's an advisor now too." Iruka chimed in, he winked at me.

"That's awesome! You know what, we'll give you a bowl on the house."

"Aw, thanks, guys. That means so much, I'm also starving."

"Good, because here's your order!" Teuchi set the steaming bowls in front of us and I felt my mouth water.

"Itadakimasu!" Iruka and I said.

We spent the hour eating and chatting. Iruka was one of my favorite people in the village. I asked him a lot of questions about Naruto when I was raising him and he would always add little things that made us similar. He was one of the main influences when I ended up adopting him. When we finished our bowls Iruka paid and left the little stand. I followed shortly after, leaving a sizeable tip on the counter, more than enough to cover the bowl that they had given me.

"Thanks for dinner, Iruka."

"Anytime, I enjoy talking with you."

Chapter 6

When I was walking to the bathhouse I became lost in thought. Thinking of the future mainly. Madara and Obito had engulfed my mind. My mission, what Obito was doing, Madara coming back eventually...

_**Stop spiraling.**_

_What are you talking about?_

_**The future holds a tough decision for you, but don't worry about it right now. You have plenty of time before you have to pick a side.**_

_What if I don't want to pick a side. This morning you told me not to think about the past and focus on the future. Either option pretty much sucks._

_**Don't worry about it right now, besides, someone has been calling your name for a bit now.**_

_WHAT?! _I immediately came out of my mindscape and bumped into Kakashi.

"You ok?" He asked putting his hands on my shoulders, eyeing me carefully.

"Yeah, definitely. Lost in thought." I shook my head to rid myself of the fog.

"You do that a lot... It's like you go somewhere else." He didn't look like he was done talking about it, but then we rounded the corner and the bathhouse was right there.

"See you after." I ran into the girl's side and when I got to the cubbies I exhaled.

_I'm going to have to tell him eventually._

_**You and I both know that's a bad idea.**_

_I mean I am a jinchuuriki._

_**Yeah, except you have the same tailed beast as Naruto. That is highly suspicious.**_He paused thinking for a moment. _**It's ultimately up to you.**_

_Then it's settled, he's going to meet you._

_**In a way, I already have met him. Although, I would recommend not catching feelings. Relationships prevent people from thinking straight.**_

_I wasn't planning on it! _I could hear his laughter and I punched the wall at the back of the cubby, shutting him up. All the girls came running out of the bath with towels.

"Oh! Kyo, it was only you. You ok?" Ino asked resting a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, thought I saw a bug." I said, retracting my bloody knuckles from the crater in the wall. You could see outside into the forest on the other side of the bathhouse. I quickly hung a towel over the opening with multiple kunai and followed them to the bath.

When we were all in the bath I submerged myself beneath the warm water and slowed my heart rate. When I emerged again I felt completely relaxed. I flicked my hair over the edge of the tub and let it rest against the floor.

"Someone looks like they needed this." Sakura said.

"You ok, Kyo? You look stressed." Hinata asked.

"Just thinking about the future too much, need to clear my mind and stay in the present." Tenten groaned on her side of the bath and we all looked at her.

"Why do you look so beat up?" Ino asked, nudging Tenten's back with her foot.

"I sparred with Kyo earlier and then she trained me. It is not easy. She's incredible when she fights."

I blushed and dipped down into the water so that only my eyes were visible.

"Should we be worried about Friday?" Hinata asked, giggling because I probably looked like an alligator.

"I mean, I had my ass handed to me using everything I had and she only used her sword." Tenten turned around and pressed her back against the side of the tub, effectively cracking it. "She's also jacked."

"You are in great shape. What's your secret?" Sakura asked, not hiding her jealousy. Hinata seemed to lean in too, probably wanting to impress Naruto.

I mumbled something under the water. I wasn't used to getting praise like this and I was clearly embarrassed. Luckily the bath was hot, so the fact that my face was red could be correlated with the heat rather than the latter.

"Gravity seals!" Tenten said. "She showed me how to use them and it's so hard... I'm only on 2x! She's on 10x!"

"Okay, okay, enough about me, please. I don't like being talked about." I was starting to feel shriveled so I stood up and walked over to the stools on the side. I could feel their gazes on me and Ino smacked my ass as I walked by.

"Girl can you be my personal trainer too because damn." Ino said.

"Me too!" Hinata said standing up and sitting next to me.

"Fine, fine. We'll start tomorrow in the afternoon. You'll need all the help you can get if we're all fighting on Friday." I smirked at them and Sakura's face changed, she was probably thinking of Sasuke.

After we were all cleaned off we left the bathhouse talking. Ino and Sakura kept prying about my love life, Tenten and Hinata were giggling about my awkwardness.

"My love life is nonexistent."

"So you're not into Kakashi? I totally got that vibe from you guys."

Sakura immediately burst out laughing and I choked on the air I was breathing.

"No! I'm his captain, that's so unprofessional." _Why does everyone keep saying that?_

"Ino, what'd you do to Kyo?" Naruto walked over, followed by all the guys.

"Just a friendly conversation between women. It's so easy to make her uncomfortable."

"What was that loud noise we heard earlier?" Kiba asked making his way to the front of the group. "We thought some perv tried to get into your side."

"Why didn't you come to make sure we were ok?" Tenten asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"You do have an anbu captain in your presence. Pretty sure she could've handled it." Kiba defended.

"Kyo punched the wall." Sakura said, changing the subject.

"Why?" Kakashi asked, worry evident on his face.

"I thought there was a bug ok?!" I practically shouted, my face as red as my hair. I slowly moved my hand behind my back to hide the major damage I had inflicted on it. Naruto quickly caught on and started examining it.

"You're right, she does get uncomfortable easy." Shino said, scaring the life out of Kiba.

"Would you QUIT SNEAKING UP ON ME!" He shouted at Shino.

"Actually Kiba you stood in front of me as to join the conversation, you should have known I was here." The girls started snickering and Kiba got even madder than before.

"Okay guys, I need to go home, I have training in the morning... and the afternoon." I said eyeing the girls. "2 o'clock, training ground 11?"

"Hai!" They all seemed genuinely excited for tomorrow. Well, except for Tenten who gave a determined but exhausted 'hai'.

I could see all of the guys making a mental note of that information, so I beat them to their little scheme. "You guys are more than welcome to come and watch, give these girls some motivation not to complain about their training." I smiled at them and started walking in the direction of my house. Naruto caught up to me and took my hand. The moment he did, I teleported us to the house. Leaving the rest of them to watch my embers.

"So you're training the girls now?" Naruto asked, collapsing on the couch. I sat on the coffee table with my legs crossed.

"They practically begged me in the bathhouse." I said quietly, uncertainty creasing my brow. _It's going to be really hard, I usually fight with intent to kill. I don't want to kill them._

_**You won't kill them.**_

_But what if I lose control._

_**You forget I'm going to be there too. Don't worry.**_

"What the matter? I'm glad you're making friends." He sat across from me.

I shook my head and smiled. "I mean, technically I'm helping the enemy since we're all sparring on Friday."

Chapter 7

The next morning I woke up earlier than I normally would and stretched. After I showered, I went into my closet to get changed into training gear and saw the Yondaime's cloak in the back of my closet. I walked over and started to sift through their belongings again, just like I had on the first day. This time more slowly. Taking in everything. I was lost in thought when I pushed past one of their jonin vests and something fell to the floor. It was a picture of Minato and Kushina when Kushina was pregnant with Naruto. A sad feeling engulfed me, wishing they were still here for Naruto's sake. _They aren't here because of Obito..._

Kurama appeared behind me and rest a hand on my shoulder. **"This isn't your fault. It isn't anyone's fault, it would have happened whether you were involved or not."**

"I'm gonna go to the cemetery before we train today. I need to pay my respects and apologize on Obito's behalf. I can't live in their home and ignore the fact that my brother is the reason they're dead."

**"All right. I'll be with you the entire time."**

I threw on a cut off and shorts with my shinobi sandals. When I got outside the sun was peeking above the horizon and I started to run to the cemetery. None of the villagers were awake yet, some shops were opening their doors and setting up for the day. I ran past the Yamanaka Flower Shop and skidded to a halt, I saw Ino outside and she waved.

"Morning Kyo! You're up early." She was setting out some lilies when I made my way over to her.

"I'm always up early. Are you guys open yet? I wanted to get some flowers." It was a last minute decision, I honestly didn't think they would be open this early.

"Sure. What were you thinking?" She gestured to the abundance of flowers surrounding the outside of the shop and waited for me to make my selections. _Calla lilies._ I thought as I went over to one of the buckets and picked out two bouquets. One red and one yellow.

"These should work." I smiled at her and she led me inside.

"Where are you heading with these?" She rang me up for the flowers and wrapped them in some tissue for me.

"The cemetery. Got to pay a visit to some very important people."

"If you ever need to talk about anything, you have me and the girls. Just know that ok?" She handed me the flowers and I gave her a reassuring smile. "See you later for training?" She asked.

"Better prepare yourself. When I'm done with you, the girls will be a force to be reckoned with."

She laughed at that and shouted at me as I was exiting the store. "You're already a force to be reckoned with, Kyo."

I started running toward the cemetery again, getting stopped every once in a while to talk to someone. When I first joined the village, I really only had the Uchiha. Sakura has told me on multiple occasions that the people of the village see Minato and Kushina in me, and that they feel comfortable and safe when I'm around. _If they see them in me, why can't they get past the Kyuubi in Naruto and see that he is actually their son?_

_**The people of this village can easily become blinded by their emotions. Whenever they see Naruto, they see the monster who killed their loved ones and their Hokage. They don't see a child, someone who was barely alive when it happened.**_

_And yet they love the girl who's the cause of it all. I thought that if I adopted him the people would see how much I loved him and accept him. I guess their hatred runs too deep. I've even had people talk to me like I took on a massive burden by adopting him._

_**Hate is a powerful thing. You know that better than anyone. You've seen hatred first hand in so many different people.**_

_Maybe someday Naruto and I can rid this world of hatred, just like Jiraiya always talks about._

I slowed down when I almost ran head first into the wall of the cemetery. I felt Kurama laughing but I just rolled my eyes and walked in. I wove my way up and down the rows of headstones until I found where they were. Since Minato was Hokage, even if his time was cut short, he was still in the secluded section of the cemetery. They were placed on a hill, headstones clean and weeds trimmed. I knelt down in front of their graves and I felt tears coming.

"It isn't fair that I am living where you lived. I don't deserve it by any means, especially considering where I came from." I started to unwrap the flowers and tears dripped down on them. "I am so sorry about what my family did to you... I'm sorry that he took you from your only son, especially now. He needs you more than anything." I placed the flowers in the designated vases and sat back on my heels.

"I vow to take care of him. To protect him and help him become strong. That's the least I can do since I am part of the reason you were taken from him." All of the feelings I had felt up until this point overwhelmed me. I hadn't cried in a long time. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder and when I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by gorgeous galaxies.

"It isn't your fault dear, don't think that." I looked over my shoulder and my breath caught in my chest.

"Minato?" He came around and sat across from me, wearing the most innocent smile.

"None of this has anything to do with you, you just got thrown into the middle of it."

"How can I see you?" I asked, wiping the tears from my face.

"When the Kyuubi was extracted from me, I kept a piece of my soul attached to it. I did the same thing when I sealed the other half in Naruto, except with my remaining chakra."

"Naruto needs you... Why are you here with me instead?"

"That's where things get complicated. It's only because you have the part of the Kyuubi I sealed within me. I kept myself attached so I could see what was really going on when I was released from the Shinigami. I was surprised to find you." Kurama appeared next to us and Minato smacked him on the side of the head playfully. "I realize now that none of this is your fault Kurama, I'm sorry for ever thinking so."

**"Yeah yeah ok..."** Kurama looked uncomfortable sitting next to us. He was in his fox form, but not nearly as big.

"You don't like being seen as the good guy, do you?" I laughed when Kurama started pouting and crossed his arms.

**"If you tell the other beasts I will never live it down."**

Minato had a mix of happiness and sadness on his face. My heart hurt immediately when I remembered he really was dead. That Orochimaru had taken him. He didn't deserve any of that.

"What happened after Orochimaru took you?" I asked quietly.

"It was dark for a long time. He summoned me along with the first and second Hokage to fight Hiruzen. We were all resealed by the end of it. We all remain with the Shinigami now."

"I was there when Hiruzen died, outside the barrier. I felt so helpless. He had become like a father to me. Just like Madara had."

"I'm sorry you had to see that."

"I'm sorry you had to fight him." A pain encroached my heart. "So you haven't seen Kushina?"

"No." His face changed to a look of determination and he grabbed my hand. "But I'm not here to talk about myself. You're family now Kyo, you're an Uzumaki. I'm entrusting you with my son, he doesn't know how lucky he is to have you. I've watched his life through the seal I placed on him as a baby. I've watched you take care of him and become his family. I watched you lose yours multiple times. You both need each other."

I nodded and felt more tears forming. I thought about Madara and Obito. I thought about the friends I have gained from the leaf. I thought too much about everything and about the choice I had to make in the future.

"I know that you have a tough decision ahead of you. Just know that, whatever you decide, no one should have to die for there to be true peace. There shouldn't be sacrifices in the name of tranquility. So whatever you choose, please protect the people you love. Protect my son, because I can see how much you love him."

I looked up at Minato and wrapped him in a hug. We stayed like that for a long time, just being like that, I could tell I needed it. I had been searching for something, something to push me in the right direction. To help me clear all the conflict raging in my mind. This was what I needed.

"I will protect him with all of who I am." With that, Minato vanished and I was brought back to the cemetery. Kurama was next to me in his human form, holding me. He was petting my hair and I didn't feel broken anymore. A new resolve engulfed me. I have to protect the people I love.

I shunshined myself to a small lake just outside of the training ground Kurama and I use. I splashed the cold water on my face so I wouldn't look like such a train wreck anymore and met him over at the training ground.

**"You ok?"**

"Way better actually. My head feels clearer. I'm ready to train, Kurama. I'm ready to start evolving this thing." Before he could respond I lunged at him, activating my dojutsu and tails. Our fight went back and forth for a few hours. Kurama was almost constantly on the defensive, and after we finished he collapsed to the ground.

**"Your progress is incredible. I wasn't expecting that much improvement. Thanks, Minato." **He sat up with a serious look on his face. **"You got me pretty good earlier, you sliced my side with Reaper Release, how'd you do it?"**

I thought for a couple of moments before I answered. "I saw what I wanted to do and then it happened. It was easy, like your side opened up for only a moment and I acted on the opening."

**"That's what I thought. Kyo, the opening was only about a second long... how long did it feel like to you?"**

"It was definitely not a second, it felt more like ten."

**"Looks like you were stuck for a while, trapped by your uncertainties. Minato must have cleared that up for you. This new resolve you have to protect everyone around you helped you get a foot in the door. You slowed time for only a moment."**

My jaw dropped. "I did it?"

**"Only for a moment, and you weren't aware of it. But yes, you did it."**

"I DID IT, DATTEBAYO!" I shouted, jumping into the air.

**"Nice job kit, we'll continue our work tomorrow."** Kurama vanished just as I saw the girls walking around the corner.

I fell to the ground and waited for them to get over to me. _I can't believe I actually did it. Thank you, Minato. You were exactly what I needed. I needed resolve. I needed a reason to get to the future. I needed the motivation to keep going._

_You're welcome. _I almost jumped out of my skin hearing his voice in my head, but it soon turned into joy.

"Oye! Kyo!" Sakura yelled making her way over to me. She reached her hand down and helped me up. The rest of the girls made their way over, the same determination that I felt written on all of their faces. _This is the will of fire._

"Start stretching, today is not going to be easy." While we were stretching the guys came out of the trees and started lounging on the edge of the forest. I made my way over to them.

"Sup."

"You already train today?" Kiba asked, scratching Akamaru behind the ears.

"Duh. No days off." I grinned at them, sitting on the ground.

"Did you hear that Ebisu was caught peeking through the hole you created at the bathhouse? One of the girls saw and punched him into next week." Kiba grinned and I started laughing.

"I should probably fix that."

"Nah, they'll have some genin fix it probably." Naruto said helping me up. My knees buckled slightly and then I remembered that I had upped my gravity seals that morning before my run. _I seriously trained with it this high?_

_**I was wondering when you would notice.**_

_No wonder I'm so tired._

I did the hand signs to turn them down by one and immediately relaxed.

"What'd you just do?" Neji asked, using his byakugan to examine my chakra points. "Your heart rate just decreased immensely."

"I forgot that I had turned my gravity seal up this morning for my run." I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment.

"All right girls, ready to get whooped." I asked turning toward them.

"Hai!" I walked over to each of them and activated gravity seals.

"Is yours still ok, Tenten?" I asked checking hers to see what she was at.

"Yeah, this morning was tough."

"Keep these on at all times, not just for training. You need to get used to the weight, it'll make you stronger. Once you feel that doing your normal activities is easy or the way it used to be, you up it." They all nodded.

"100 laps, pull-ups, push-ups, and sit-ups." I took out a kunai and threw it in the air. "When that hits the ground, start running." I turned around and sat next to the guys.

"What kind of trainer sits while her students work their asses off?" Kiba asked shaking his head slightly.

"I could join them, but I need them to gain confidence in themselves. My seal is significantly higher than theirs, I could do this easily on the same level as them. If they see me barely out of breath it'll lower their self-esteem. I'll jump in if they start to slow down or want to give up."

We all talked for a while, the girls finished running and some started push-ups while others did sit-ups. I went over to check on them and make sure they weren't skimping. Once they finished they collapsed on the ground next to us.

"Okay Kyo, we want to see you do something." Hinata said gasping for breath. The rest of the group agreed so I thought for a second.

"How about I hold a plank for as long as I can with my seal upped to 15x."

"Why 15x?" Neji asked.

"We don't want to be here all day, do we? You guys are welcome to join me." I smirked at them, knowing that they would struggle far more than I.

"Let's do it! Show these girls that they aren't the only badasses around." Kiba grinned.

"Let's." Neji said helping Kiba up, Choji and Naruto stood up as well.

"For the POWER of YOUTH!" Lee jumped to his feet and did a flip.

"What a drag..."

I did the hand signs to up my seal and my knees gave only slightly. I activated it on the guys and they all seemed less confident in their abilities. I felt them all looking at me and I just grinned back. "Ready?" We all got down into the plank position and Sakura started the stopwatch.

Choji collapsed after thirty seconds complaining about how he wanted his chips. I laughed at that, using one of my tails to grab a bag and toss it to him. The rest of the guys just stared at me shocked.

"How in the world do you have that much energy still?" Kiba choked out, the veins in his neck pulsing.

"Didn't you already train today?" Neji asked, he was trying to hide how much he was struggling.

"Yeah! I went for a run at around 5AM, saw Ino and got some flowers, then came here to train for around 6 hours." Kiba collapsed and Akamaru whimpered slightly.

"Oh shush. I tried ok?" He said at Akamaru. Choji started laughing and Kiba made his way over to me to inspect my form.

"Nice abs, looks like your training is paying off." He poked my side. I knew that my cut off was hanging off my body and that if you look at me from the side you could see them pretty perfectly right now. "Jeez those are rock solid."

"I wanna see!"

"Me too!"

All the girls came running over and gazed at my abs. I felt my face get red and quickly activated one of my tails to push them all back in front of me.

"Nani?!" They all yelled and Sakura fell on her butt.

"What? You were poking my side, I'm ticklish."

Neji gave up after another five minutes. "I'm impressed, Kyo. You have my respect."

I looked over at Shikamaru, shock written all over my face. "I'm surprised you haven't given up yet."

"I mean, it's totally a drag... but I have some pride." I could see how much he and Naruto were struggling and I wanted to make it a closer match. I did a couple of hand signs and upped my seal again.

"What'd you just do?" Neji asked, activating his byakugan again.

I stopped using kenryokugan so that my tail would go away, it was adding weight. "I upped my seal, this is definitely the most I can take at this point." I said, giving a harsh exhale. Naruto immediately gave up seeing that I was the winner and sat on my back. "Seriously? You brat." I coughed a little and clenched my jaw.

We stayed like that for another minute before Shikamaru spoke up.

"I'm gonna up mine. I feel bad that yours is higher."

"Are you sure? I'm struggling a lot." Even speaking was a lot of energy.

"I mean, I'll probably collapse immediately but you've won at this point by upping yours." He did the hand signs and I watched his shoulders slack. After another 30 seconds he collapsed on the ground rolling over. Choji came over and removed the seal so he could breathe a little easier.

"You guys want me to stop or see how much longer I can go?" I already knew the answer as they all sat around me. I sighed. "Fine."

It was silent while they watched me. The veins on my head were prevalent and my face was red, but my arms weren't shaking and I was still as a rock. "Up my seal."

"What?!" Sakura shouted.

"Up my seal for me. I can't do it on my own but I want to see how long I can last on it." _I'm sure someone else is curious too._

_**You got that right.**_

"If you say so..." Sakura said. She came over to me and right when she upped it I groaned, the ground cracked slightly and I felt the rocks digging into my arms. I held it for another minute before my arms gave out beneath me. When I hit the ground it burst open and a crater about fifteen feet in diameter formed. I couldn't move. Naruto had jumped at the last second and skidded down the side to release my seal back to 10x. I flipped over and started laughing. Everyone's jaws were open, completely shocked at the force of the seal. There was clapping heard behind them and we all turned toward the noise.

"That was extremely impressive," Kakashi said, coming out of the trees with Asuma, Kurenai, Guy, and Tenzo, "makes me anxious for tomorrow."

"I'd say about the same." Asuma said. Everyone sat on the edge of the crater looking down at me. I gave them an exhausted half-smile.

"She has youth radiating off of her." Guy said. He didn't yell it, just genuinely said it and gave me a thumbs up.

"Can't wait for tomorrow you guys, it's gonna be a lot of fun."

Chapter 8

Naruto was carrying me back to the house because I couldn't walk.

"What are we doing for dinner tonight?" He asked.

"That's a great question. I do not have a plan yet." He laughed and fished around for our house keys. I jumped off his back and almost fell. Luckily he caught me and opened the door, carrying me inside.

"You overworked yourself again. You're such a show-off." He raised an eyebrow at me.

"There's nothing wrong with trying to improve." I said as he sat me down on my bed.

"You get cleaned up, I'm cooking dinner tonight." He left and closed the door behind him. Kurama appeared with a smug look.

**"He's right, you are a show-off."**

I frowned. "Did I mess up today by upping my seals?"

**"No, I'm just teasing. The girls all look up to you and the guys are trying to get on your level. You're a part of the village, you're important to them."**

"How can you tell?"

**"I've been around long enough."**

I got into the shower and cleaned myself up. When I looked into the mirror I caught a glimpse of something black. I quickly wiped the mirror and got closer. _Is part of my hair black?_ A chunk on the underside was as dark as raven feathers. I braided my hair making sure to tuck the black part in the middle and went into my closet to change. I threw on a black V-neck t-shirt and some anbu pants with shinobi sandals. I was hoping that if the black strands were to peak out, the black shirt would camouflage them.

**"What's up with the braid?"**

"It keeps my hair out of my face, it's convenient."

**"I like it, it suits you."**

…

I woke up and flipped out of bed. I slid into the bathroom and tied my hair in two braids. When I ran into the closet Kurama appeared on my bed, eyes barely catching me as I ran past.

**"You're in a good mood."**

"Well DUH! I'm sparring with everyone today, dattebayo!" I jumped out of the closet wearing my mission get-up. "Too much?" I asked spinning around once and eyeing Kurama's reaction.

**"I'd try to be a little more subtle. Maybe lose your cloak. Show some humility."**

"Yeah, you're totally right." I ran back into the closet and hung my cloak up. "How about now?"

**"Better."** I chose black anbu pants, a mesh shirt, my grey anbu vest, and shinobi sandals. I tied my leaf hitai-ate over my double braids and smiled at Kurama.

"I'm gonna head out. Hopefully, I'll have some time to warm up before they all get there."

**"Don't go overboard with the warm up and don't underestimate them. I'll be there so don't worry about losing yourself."**

"I won't. Just from seeing the girls train I can tell that this won't be remotely easy. It's nice having you on my side." I slid down the banister and left a note for Naruto in the kitchen, telling him I would meet him at the training ground.

When I got to the training ground I started stretching and jogged a couple of laps. I worked on my kenjutsu and taijutsu with some clones, then started stretching again. After that I meditated and talked with Kurama for a while, getting some last minute pointers from him. I heard some talking and waited until their footsteps were closer. When they were about five feet away, one of their chakra signatures vanished. With my eyes still closed I reached out and grabbed the ankle of whoever was trying to sneak up on me, tripping them into a tree.

"Ow..." I opened my eyes and turned around. Kiba was face down on the ground. Everyone was laughing and I turned to them.

"You should've known better, Kiba." Hinata said giggling.

"Yeah really, she is a captain." Shino said, offering his hand to him.

"I know that!" He shouted at Shino, but still took his hand to get up.

All of rookie nine were here with their senseis. We all started stretching and had small talk. Lots of banter was thrown back and forth and laughing ensued. Naruto came running up, clearly out of breath.

"Kyo, why didn't you wake me up?" He whined, stretching next to me.

"I figured you were a capable young man who could take care of himself. I thought you weren't a kid anymore?" I ruffled his hair and he blushed. "If you weren't here in five minutes I was going to come get you anyway."

Everyone grew quiet as some more people approached.

"Kyo! I heard about the spar you're having today and I thought I would sit in and observe." Tsunade said, sitting on one of the tree branches with Shizune. A few council members were there along with rookie 9's families.

"This has become a spectacle." I smiled, waving at everyone. Shikaku and Yoshino arrived and Yoshino ran up and hugged me.

"Good luck! I know you'll be great." She exclaimed.

"Mom! You're supposed to be rooting for us!" Shikamaru said.

"I know, honey! I just can't pick a side when my kids are on both."

"What?" Sakura asked.

"I play shogi at his house a lot, I've even started to take on Shikaku." He waved me off.

"You still have a long way to go." The smile that curled the corner of his lips was there though, it was fun playing him, way harder than Shikamaru.

"Ready to begin?" Kakashi said walking over. He placed a hand on my shoulder. "You still okay with this?" He seemed genuinely worried.

"Ready as I'll ever be, dattebayo!"

I took a fighting stance on the far end of the training ground, the opposite side of all the spectators. I unsheathed Reaper Release and a couple of murmurs went through the crowd, they probably recognized the sword from when Kushina was alive. I stuck its blade into the ground with both my hands resting on the hilt.

"Come on, Akamaru!" Kiba shouted. "Fang Over Fang!"Both Akamaru and Kiba began advancing at me with incredible speed. I stood my ground with Reaper Release and braced for impact, successfully blocking the attack with my blade. Right when Kiba made contact I sensed a multitude of insects coming toward me, it wasn't too difficult to sense them. I increased the gravity in my immediate area, causing Kiba, Akamaru, and the insects to all collapse, cracking the ground beneath them.

Kiba and Akamaru regrouped with Shino and Hinata, right when they were at a safe distance he activated another jutsu. I knew immediately that Reaper Release would not be able to hold this one off, and sheathed it. "Wolf Fang Over Fang!"When the wolf was ten feet away I activated my kenryokugan and brought out three tails, catching Kiba by lacing the ends together.

**"Gentle Fist!"** I immediately rotated and blocked her attack, my arm stung a bit and then I remembered that the Byakugan can see tenketsu. I figured that if I were to fight Hinata, I had to be constantly on the offensive so that she didn't have time to think about my chakra points.

I advanced, thinking of all the training I had done with Madara and Obito. I felt like I was fighting them again, like I was home. Their expectations were extremely high and I tried not to slack with them gone, but I have no way of knowing. A sensation came over me. A foreign chakra signature in the distance, then it vanished, masking itself. It may be foreign to anyone else here, but to me it's family. I immediately grew excited and decided I would show off a bit.

"Cha!" Sakura came at me from the right and smashed her fist into the ground. I did a flip in the air, jumping off of multiple rocks to gain some distance. I heard an army of feet behind me and knew Naruto had summoned his clones. "Shadow Clone Jutsu."I sent five in his direction, which I assumed would be plenty. I quickly wove the hand signs for a wind jutsu to blow Team Kurenai and Sakura back. "Wind Release: Pressure Damage."

Before I landed, I lightened the gravity around me and levitated just above the ground, preventing a shadow from catching me. I smirked over at Shikamaru and saw him roll his eyes.

"What a drag... she did this the first time we sparred." Shikamaru mumbled.

"Wait you knew about this and didn't think to tell us?!" Ino shouted and smacked the back of Shikamaru's head. "Choji now!"

"Expansion Jutsu!" Choji grew to 10x his normal size, he brought a giant fist forward, trying to get me to hit the ground so that Shikamaru could gain control of me. I activated another tail and caught it, a massive amount of air erupted across the training ground from the impact. I pushed him back quickly, causing him to collapse onto the forest behind him, luckily it was the opposite side of the spectators. He shrunk out of view and I turned back to Ino and Shikamaru.

I knew that Ino wasn't able to do her mind transfer unless she was certain it would land, otherwise, she would be immobile. I knew she wouldn't try it since I was flying around very quickly, I needed to land on the ground again though, I couldn't keep this up for much longer, it wasn't exactly fair. I increased the gravity around Shikamaru, far past what he had planked the day before, causing him to collapse to the ground creating a crater.

"Sorry Shikamaru, I needed to land again if I was going to give a fair fight." I shouted at him, I heard some grumbling in response and chuckled. I rotated quickly and caught Lee's foot, just before it made contact with my head. "Attacking an opponent from behind huh? We've sunk that low?" I smirked at him and Lee just gave a bright smile.

"Anything to gain the advantage, you are very formidable."

We engaged in an intense taijutsu match. Lee was incredible when it came to taijutsu, but that was expected considering it's the only way he was a ninja. It was a back and forth with offense and defense between the two of us. I noticed that Lee had already taken his weights off, and was impossibly fast without them. I did a couple of flips back and turned down my gravity seal to 5x, surpassing his speed and gaining the edge.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Neji take the gentle fist stance and knew that I was within his Eight Trigrams. I blocked a kick from Lee with my forearm and completely deactivated my gravity seals, vanishing immediately. When I reappeared outside of Neji's range I only had time to exhale before my heart stopped.

"Weapon Control: Tensasai!" Tenten had thrown her scroll directly above where I was standing. I knew this jutsu, when I had done all that research in my library I read up on this when studying fuinjutsu. It's incredible, it covers a large range and showers an impossible amount of weaponry. My brain scattered, trying to find a solution. I thought back to playing shogi with Shikamaru, thought of the options I had. I sensed the spectators, jonin, and rookie 9 all lean in.

Then time slowed down.

_**Atta girl.**_Kurama said and I couldn't help but smile.

I looked up and the weapons were almost frozen, moving at rates I could deflect. _My kenryokugan._ I unsheathed Reaper Release and began deflecting the barely moving weaponry. I noticed paper bombs attached to some and threw them into the trees. Even with time slowed, I barely had enough to get the weapons out of my way. A searing pain raced up my spine, a pain that I hadn't felt in years.

An all-black tail whipped its way into my vision, naturally moving with the others to deflect and protect me. I gasped. _That's the fifth tail._

_**You did it, kit. Congratulations.**_

_Why is it black?_ I watched as it moved more efficiently and gracefully than the rest of my tails, seeming to show them how to more effectively protect me.

_**Once you reach five tails, they either turn blue to represent the hottest flame or black to represent ashes. Black is usually an omen.**_

_Wait, what kind of omen?_

_**Not sure. It's usually prophesized. We'll have to investigate that after the fight. Also, your hair is black on the underside now too. Good luck hiding that in a braid.**_

I was about to respond when I noticed I had deflected the last kunai. Time returned to normal and my tails flickered behind me. I turned around and faced everyone. My black hair lacing together with the red in my braids. Their faces were all shocked. Then there was clapping. Tsunade was clapping from her tree and all the parents and clan heads began clapping as well. Even my teammates started cheering.

"You deserve this." Tsunade had jumped down from the tree and handed me a jonin vest.

I bowed to her and accepted the vest, completely speechless about my new tail. I had it wrap around to the front of me and I admired it. Completely in awe at how different and beautiful it was. While there were embers sparking off my other four, this one was constantly flaking bits of ash. When a piece broke off, a dark blue color was visible beneath, before being covered with more ash.

"You still good to spar with us? Or do you need a break." Kakashi asked resting a hand on my shoulder.

"Are you kidding? I just got warmed up."

"If you insist. Also, is that a new tail?" His eye watched as I admired it.

"Yeah! I've never gained a black one before. Now, let's dance." I said, taking my position and smirking at them.

Immediately I felt a tree growing behind me, wrapping its branches around me. _This is Kurenai's specialty. Let's turn the tables, shall we?_

_**We shall.**_

I released the genjutsu and immediately made eye contact with her. I felt my eyes turn completely black and Kurama appeared behind me with one tail, didn't want to tip off our little secret. He roared ferociously.

_I'll leave her to you, don't be too mean alright?_

_**Finally, I get some action, don't worry, I know they're allies.**_

I left my mindscape in time to see Kurenai collapse to the ground. Asuma came at me with his trench knives using flying sparrow. I pulled out Reaper Release and siphoned my own wind chakra into the blade. The sound that radiated from the two when they collided was anything but quiet, the noise traveled across the training ground all the way to the village. Guy jumped at me from behind but my tails were able to counter him with general ease.

_This new tail is amazing, it acts independently. It leads the others and shows them what I need._

_**I wanted to see how you'd react to that. The first half of the tails are yours to control, the other four are more powerful with each successive one, but they can also act independently of your will for them.**_

_I would be struggling if I hadn't just unlocked it, perfect timing._

Asuma jumped back and began weaving signs for a jutsu I knew all too well. "Fire Release: Burning Ash."

Luckily the jutsu revolves around the ash he's exhaling, I know that it eventually will end with the lung capacity. I relaxed my arms at my sides and exhaled the remaining air from my lungs. When the ash was half a foot away I began inhaling. All of the ash that Asuma had emitted was sucked back into my lungs, then I ejected it back at him.

"Burning Ash!"

I bit down hard, watching as Asuma fled with Kurenai in his arms, Kakashi helped Guy evacuate as well. The ash eventually cleared and I waited for their attack, I could sense them in the woods, regrouping. Then Asuma emerged and took a stance a few feet from me. I recognized it immediately and gulped.

"Raigo: Thousand-Hand Strike."

I waited to see if time slowed down at all, holding my breath. I really needed it to now, when it didn't I started zig-zagging around the incoming punches. I kept moving even when one struck me, trying to keep in any noises my body threatened to release at impact. I failed a couple of times, grunts and quiet cries shook out of me with each hit. It wouldn't stop. I realized I couldn't keep this up for much longer and quickly did hand signs before getting hit again.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

A fox appeared outside of the assault and looked shocked to say the least, he was about to jump in and help me when I looked at him, transmitting my thoughts. He nodded and looked at Asuma, I focused chakra into my eyes and closed them. When I opened again I could see from the fox's perspective, Asuma noticed the new eyes and the second we made eye contact I had him. The lines in my kenryokugan ticked sideways in slow succession.

"Fox Nap."_Kurama's favorite jutsu._ I heard him chuckle and yawn.

I returned to my body and the fox and Asuma both collapsed sideways, asleep. I released my summoning and turned to block Guy's attack.

"Leaf Hurricane!" My left arm guard took most of the damage, but a quiet cry still escaped me. I pushed him off and lunged, tackling him to the ground, my right forearm covering his throat.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Hounds."

I unsheathed Reaper Release and syphoned wind chakra into it, spinning on my heel and slicing the incoming hounds. Guy rolled out of the way, barely missing my blade, and jumped over next to Kakashi. I wove hand signs, not giving them enough time to regroup.

"Water Release: Ripping Torrent."

"Earth Release: Mud Wall."

My water jutsu blasted into Kakashi's barrier, he and Guy both behind it. Immediately after the water hit the wall I started weaving more signs to counter the earth jutsu.

"Lightning Release: False Darkness."

Guy retreated to the trees and I sensed Kakashi move underground, quickly advancing toward me. I backed up rapidly, knowing I wouldn't be able to outrun him. I jumped into the air and levitated right as Kakashi burst out of the ground.

"Chidori!"

"Severe Leaf Hurricane!" Guy came up behind me, trying to kick me down to Kakashi's Chidori. I released one of my scrolls from its holster and aimed it at Guy. A chakra suppression chain was summoned and wrapped Guy to the nearest tree. I landed on the ground, twenty feet away from Kakashi and we both looked at each other. Mutual respect shown on both of our faces.

"You tired yet?" I grinned, unsheathing Reaper Release.

"Nah, this is the most fun I've had in a long time." He gave me his eye smile and took out his own sword.

Smiles still plastered to our faces, we sprinted at one another. Blades clashing over and over again. We were both extremely quick, so I knew that our spectators probably had a hard time following what was happening. You could see Kakashi's grey hair and my red blurring together. I flipped over him, once more siphoning wind chakra into my blade and brought it down hard on his own, slicing it in half. He quickly took out a kunai and caught my blade right before it hit his shoulder. Our faces were very close together and when he pushed me back, I stumbled and fell into one of the craters I had made.

I heard everyone start murmuring and a lot of shuffling. They were all craning to see what was about to happen. Kakashi jumped above me aiming the kunai at my throat. At the last second I brought my tails around me and caught him, levitating in place just above the ground. I held my sword to his throat and his kunai was just out of reach from my neck.

_She won. _Kakashi thought to himself. He couldn't move from the way that the tails had wrapped around him.

When I moved us up so that everyone could see how we landed, I brought Kakashi down a little bit so his kunai was at my throat as well. The shock in his eyes was one I probably will never forget, especially with the sharingan. "It's a tie." I grinned and cheering erupted from where everyone was.

Chapter 9

After Asuma, Kurenai, and Guy were all defeated, rookie 9 went around releasing them so they could watch the remainder of the fight. When I landed Kakashi and me on the ground we both stood for a couple of seconds before collapsing on one another. He covered his sharingan and my tails vanished. Guy caught Kakashi and Naruto caught me so we didn't fall to the ground. They carried both of us over to the spectators and sat us down next to each other.

"I've never fought you myself, and now I feel bad for our enemies." Kakashi stuck his hand out and I shook it. For a lot of the spectators, they didn't know that I was the new anbu captain, they had heard of the position change, but didn't have a face to put with the name.

"Thank you, Kakashi. I'll do everything I can for this village and my comrades. No one will ever get left behind, I can promise you that." His eye shone when I said that and he quickly looked away.

The families came around and introduced themselves. They said it was an honor having a shinobi of my caliber protecting them. It was all flattering but I wasn't used to the attention. I also didn't like the praise, it was extremely hard to respond to. I felt like a 'thank you' robot.

Tsunade came up to me with some of the council members behind her and she wrapped me in a hug. "You did so well! You exceeded all of our expectations. I would like to introduce you to some people." I tried hard not to grimace at her hug, my body hurt from the beating I had taken. I also suspected that something was wrong with my arm, not only had Hinata hit one of the tenketsu on my left, but then Guy kicked it. I held it behind my back while I was talking with the council members.

"Homura Mitokado." He stated stepping forward.

"Koharu Utatane." She followed forward and I bowed to each of them respectively. "We would really love to chat with you sometime, Kyo. You are quite the impressive shinobi."

"Will Tsunade be joining us?" I asked, glancing at her for only a moment.

"Of course I will. I am who you report to, after all, I'm just as intrigued as you are, Kyo." She raised an eyebrow at the two elders, seeming uneasy.

"We'll be in touch." Homura stated, and they both left. Someone grabbed my arm from behind me, I still winced even though it was gentle. Tsunade took off my arm guard and rolled up my sleeve, examining it.

"We'll be taking you and Kakashi, along with the other jonin to the hospital. You two will need treatment while everyone else can get examined for injuries." My arm was slightly bent and purple splotches were covering it. I'm pretty sure it used to look worse, but I had a little help healing. Her brow creased as she continued looking at my wound, she didn't retract her statement and looked at me as if she wanted to discuss something.

_Probably because I'm healing quickly._

_**You were hurting... Should I stop?**_

_Please don't._

_**You don't have to act so tough, ya know? You just fought literally everyone alone.**_

I smiled at Tsunade and she looked shocked. "I'll be okay, dattebayo!"

"It's not open for discussion." _This girl... She reminds me so much of Naruto, I wonder if she got it from him or vice versa. Maybe it's an Uzumaki trait._

Naruto came up and wrapped an arm around my waist. When he saw me grimace he raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, you're going to the hospital."

"Kyo! I didn't know you had a summoning." Ino said walking over with Asuma and Kurenai.

"If I told you all my secrets, what would be the fun in that?" I grinned and gave a thumbs up, my smile faltering slightly from the sudden movement.

"Is your contract with foxes?" Asuma asked, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, they're incredible. You both got to see them when we fought today. They're powerful, specializing in a variety of jutsus, genjutsu is just a specialty of the ones I summoned."

Everyone else began gathering around us, chatting and asking questions about my fighting style.

"Can we see the new tail again? Or are you out of chakra?" Sakura asked. I activated my Kenryokugan and summoned the black tail. I brought it around and rested it on my right arm, cradling it. I didn't have the energy to have it flicking around.

Sakura reached out to touch it but I quickly stopped her. "My new tail is hotter than the others. There's a black coating of ash over the blue. Hottest color there is. I wouldn't touch it."

"Why can you touch it?" She asked.

"When the tails form, heat races up my spine, my nerves and cells have become heat resistant with each new development."

"Alright everyone, let's head towards the hospital. Kakashi and Kyo probably need some rest." We moved as a group. Kakashi and I were on Guy and Naruto's backs. Guy kept trying to make it into a workout and Kakashi looked like he'd rather die than be carried. I giggled at the two of them and Naruto turned to me.

"You're in no shape to be giggling."

"Have you seen Kakashi and Guy?" I asked, still trying to suppress my laughter. My chest was hurting with everything I said, but I couldn't help myself.

"I can feel you shaking, sit tight and be quiet, I know you're in pain."

I pouted slightly and saw Kakashi make a face at me from Guy's back. I smiled at that. I heard people whispering as we all walked past. They saw how beat up Kakashi and I were and became curious as to what happened. Asuma's team went around telling them that there was no reason to worry and soon the word spread around. When we got to the hospital Naruto left me with the other jonin to be examined. Tsunade and Shizune walked in and started looking over Guy, Asuma, and Kurenai first. Once it was determined they were uninjured and should just rest, Tsunade excused them.

"You two were reckless, I can't believe your injuries." Tsunade said examining me. Shizune nodded from where she was looking over Kakashi.

"We were having fun, Tsunade." I pouted as she smacked my arm from the remark. I winced while she continued healing it.

"She's a tough opponent, I had to pull out my big jutsus to counter her." I nodded, agreeing with Kakashi.

"How did you think it was going to go? It's not like we're genin." I grinned and she glared at the two of us.

"No matter the level, you shouldn't have used jutsus that had a risk of killing one another. You both know better than that." We grew quiet. I guess we knew we could handle it.

"Kakashi you should rest." Shizune said as Kakashi lay back in his bed. She excused herself and Tsunade pulled the curtain between our beds.

"We need to talk." She said eyeing my injuries that were almost completely healed. "How are you healing so quickly? Your arm was extremely damaged, it would've needed a cast or at least a sling for a few weeks. When I examined you on the field you had broken ribs, you were swollen and had bruises and cuts. When you got here they were almost gone, like you healed on our way here."

_What do I say Kurama?_

_**Something about cell regeneration or healing or something. Telling her about me would be a bad idea.**_

I took a deep breath trying to calm down. "It's one of the perks from my summoning. When I was training with the foxes, they showed me a healing technique. I summon one of the healers to my mindscape and they'll work on the damage." I sighed, _kind of the truth_. _A liar like me doesn't deserve any of this._

_**Kit it's ok. You couldn't tell them even if you wanted to. It wouldn't end well.**_ I felt like I was going to start crying and Tsunade hugged me.

"I'm sorry, Kyo." After she was done treating me she left the room with strict instructions to stay in bed. I collapsed on the bed and retreated to my mindscape.

As soon as I saw Kurama I broke. My knees buckled and he ran and caught me with his tails. We stayed like that for a long time, lying was breaking me apart inside. I didn't want to do that to everyone I've grown to love.

**"It'll work itself out in the end, I promise."**

"How do you know that? No one likes a liar! No one can trust someone who has to lie about where they're from and who they are!" I pushed away from him and started running. He quickly appeared in front of me and caught me, not letting go this time.

**"This isn't your fault! Stop blaming yourself for everything!" **Kurama lifted his head and his ears twitched. **"You have to go. Someone's calling for you."**

"I'm not ready to go."

**"You must."**

I woke up and looked around frantically. I felt tears on my face and grew embarrassed. Kakashi was in front of me, hands on my shoulders. _This is happening too much..._

"You ok?" He eyed me carefully.

"I will be."

"I can't believe you're already healed."

"Long story. I just need to go home and sleep honestly. Do you need anything before I head out?"

"I'll be ok."

I shunshined home and collapsed on my bed. Kurama appeared next to me in his human form, sitting cross-legged. **"I'm going to be gone for a while, can you continue your training on your own?"**

"Where are you going?" I sat up across from him.

**"I have to investigate your black tail. Omen or prophecy or whatever it is, I need to find out."**

"I'll miss you." I frowned slightly, realizing I've always had him since I was a child.

**"I'll miss you too, Kyo. I'll be in touch."** He vanished and I felt tears coming but quickly pushed them back. Someone was in my house. I heard the footsteps downstairs, there wasn't a chakra signature attached to it.

I crept down the hallway and summoned one of my tails, masking my own chakra signature so I wouldn't alert them. Once the stairs opened up to the living room I peeked around the corner, not seeing anyone there. There was a crash in the kitchen and I bolted across the room, barging in and wrapping my tail around the intruder.

"Surprise?" Obito asked.

"Obito?! I could've killed you! Why'd you mask your signature?" I set him down and wrapped him in a hug.

"I had a hard time getting here actually. I watched your fight earlier and a couple of shinobi pursued me when I was heading to your house."

"I felt your signature during the fight, you need to be more careful."

"You were incredible by the way, you could kick my ass into next week." I got out a bottle of sake and poured both of us a shot and clinked glasses. "Not that I don't like seeing you, but why are you here?"

"It's about Naruto. I'm glad you adopted him, he's the other half of you in more ways than one. We need you to keep an eye on him. He is the nine-tails jinchuuriki, we need him to fulfill Madara's wishes."

"I'm the nine-tails, why not just take me?" He gave me a look that said shut up. There was a knock on the door and I ran to Obito and hugged him. I didn't want him to go.

"We'll be in touch." He said as he vanished.

I went over to the entryway, feeling emotionally exhausted from today. _I need to sleep for like a week._ When I opened the door I was surprised to see Tsunade standing there.

"I didn't think you would be out of the hospital so quickly. I'm sorry about how stern I was earlier, your healing is amazing." We walked over and sat on the couch.

"It's ok, I would've asked if I were in your shoes. I've been told I heal as fast as a jinchuuriki."

"That's what I thought initially, it would make sense considering tailed beasts are sought after and you did just join your first village." She gave me a look that said 'you can tell me anything' and continued talking. "I do have some good news though."

"Lady Tsunade?" I asked quietly, she stopped rummaging through her bag and looked at me. "I am a jinchuuriki..."

She gave me a small smile and took my hands in hers. "I know." She saw my shocked expression and scruffed my hair. "I could sense the different chakra within you, but which is it? We know of all the current jinchuuriki."

"Do you remember when Minato sealed the nine-tails into Naruto? Do you remember what he did?" Tsunade's face contorted as she thought. "Well, Minato only sealed the Yang half of the nine-tails into Naruto. I have the Yin half."

She began nodding as if that made sense. "I do remember Hiruzen-sensei saying something about that..." She gave me a hug. "Thank you for telling me, this will be good for all of us. I won't tell anyone, but I will have you and Tenzo oversee Naruto's training from now on. I can already tell you have a grasp on how to control the nine-tails."

"I would be more than happy to help him." I grinned and she handed me an envelope.

"The council and I decided today that you deserve a raise, your performance during the spar earlier was worthy of it."

After she handed me the envelope she stood up to leave. "See you soon."

Chapter 10

I woke up early to go to my usual training. It was weird not having Kurama around the house, I never realized how lonely I would feel with him gone. It had been about a week since he left and I haven't heard anything.

It was still early, no villagers were awake yet and I ran to the training ground. I sparred with some shadow clones, trying to gain control of my time manipulation. After a couple of hours I was stretching when an anbu appeared.

"Captain, Tsunade is summoning you." I nodded and he vanished.

_I still can't seem to gain control, I can't even understand why it happens in the first place._ I teleported to the Hokage tower and knocked on Tsunade's door. The door opened and Kakashi was standing there with Tenzo. He let me in and we all approached her desk.

"Glad to see you're healed." I said. He scratched the back of his head and some pink showed under his mask.

"It took me a while, you really beat me up. Although you shouldn't be so surprised, you did win."

"I thought it was a tie?" Tsunade asked, leaning forward on her desk and folding her hands in front of her face.

"It was a-"

"It wasn't. Kyo had me when we were in the crater, when she raised us up she made it seem to be a tie." Kakashi interrupted.

Tsunade sighed and took a file out of her desk. "I summoned you here for a mission." She picked up a scroll and handed it to me. "I need you to deliver this scroll to Sunagakure. It is an important message to the Kazekage."

"When do we leave?" Tenzo asked.

"Meet at the gates in twenty minutes. But before you leave we're going to inform you of something important." Tsunade looked over at me and I nodded. "Kyo is capable of protecting herself, but if anything were to happen, you need to be willing to protect and save her as well."

"Of course, Lady Hokage. She's a comrade, we would never leave her behind." Tenzo replied, seeming shocked by this sudden interaction.

"She is not only a comrade, but she is wanted by other nations as well." Tsunade sighed. "She's a jinchuuriki."

"What do you mean? How can she be a jinchuuriki, we have a list of them all." Tenzo said staring at me.

"The Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze, sealed the Yang half of the Kyuubi into Naruto, I received the Yin half." I watched both of them. "Promise me you will keep this a secret, if anyone were to find out, let alone other nations, I wouldn't be safe."

They both nodded and we stood in silence for a while.

"Why are you telling us this now?" Kakashi asked.

"It's important you know as her teammate, especially if something were to happen."

We all shunshined home to prepare for the mission. I packed my things and noticed my hands were shaking. _Kurama will not be happy that I've told our secret. Hopefully, he won't be too upset considering who I have chosen._ I went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. I leveled my breathing and teleported to the gates. I crackled as I appeared, the embers and ash radiating from my body. My cloak swirled around me and my face was covered with a hood. I made eye contact with my two teammates and we bolted.

Traveling to Suna takes days at a time, even as anbu it still takes us at least two days. We moved in silence for hours, focused on our mission. By the time night fell we made camp. We planned to travel the entire next day until we arrived in Sunagakure. I took the first watch and sat on a tree, high above everyone else. The world was quiet.

_**On a mission I see.**_

_Kami Kurama. You scared the life out of me._

_**How are things?**_

_Like usual. How's your search going? I miss having you around._

_**I have to journey to Strato. It's an ancient active volcano, takes a long time to get there. I just wanted to make sure you were still alright.**_

_I'm fine. What are you going to do once you're there?_

_**I'll meet with the council. One of my students has visions, I can speak with him about it. I'll summon you if there is anything.**_

_Alright._

Kakashi jumped up next to me and sat down. We sat in silence for a while and I felt him looking at me.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just thinking."

"Go get some rest. I'll watch until morning."

…

The world was quiet. The only thing that could be heard was our feet hitting the ground. We were in the desert now, the sun scorching our backs. I had my hood up, cloak whipping behind me. The gates appeared in the distance.

When we approached the gate Kakashi stopped in front of the guard.

"We have a message for the Kazekage from the Hokage." He stated, handing over the document for proof of entrance.

"Follow me."

While we were walking through Suna we had a lot of eyes on us. Whispering surrounded our small squad and I could feel the tension growing in my teammates. We didn't feel welcome here. By the time we reached the tower we were all on edge.

"Temari, Kankuro, these Konoha anbu are here to deliver a scroll to the Kazekage."

"We'll lead the rest of the way." Temari said, motioning for us to follow her. "How have you been, Kakashi? It's been a while."

"The usual. How's everything here in Suna?"

"About the same."

"How's Naruto?" Kankuro piped up.

"He's good. You wouldn't have known this, but Kyo is his legal guardian."

They both turned and analyzed me. "I recognize you from the Chunin Exams, you were guarding the Third Hokage." Temari said, a look of regret crossing her face.

We entered the Kazekage's office and he looked up at us. I was shocked to see it was Gaara. _How did I not know he was the Kazekage?_

"Kakashi Hatake." He reached out and shook Kakashi's hand.

"Gaara."

"What do I owe the pleasure?" Kakashi looked over at me and I stepped forward.

"A message from the Hokage." I presented the scroll to him and he opened it. He smiled at its contents and glanced up at me. "Kyo, may I speak with you alone."

We were all surprised when he knew my name. My team filed out of the room with Gaara's siblings following behind. When the door clicked shut, Gaara leaned back in his chair. "You're welcome to sit down, although, I doubt you will. The message from the Hokage was about you, Kyo."

"What do you mean?"

"She wanted us to meet. According to her, you and Naruto are going to be the future of Konohagakure and she wants us to strengthen our bonds now. Naruto is my friend, but you're a new face."

"I'm the Hokage's anbu captain and Naruto's legal guardian. I understand why she wanted us to meet."

"Why's that?" He asked, leaning forward in his seat.

"You're a jinchuuriki, I can sense Shukaku's chakra." I took a deep breath, he is the Kazekage and a friend of Naruto's. "I am also a jinchuuriki. Naruto and I both share the kyuubi's chakra."

He nodded a few times and reached his hand out to me. "I'm glad that we met, Kyo."

I shook his hand and he started scribbling on a scroll. He handed it to me and we walked to the door.

When I walked out I met up with my team and we headed out of the village.

We traveled home until night fell once again. It was more relaxed now that we presented the scroll, talking and laughter was being shared. They were some of my closest friends, after all, it's hard for me to not feel happy around them.

"Okay, Kyo. We've known each other for a long time. I want to know about your old master."

My breath caught in my chest and I looked at both of them. "What do you mean?" I scratched the back of my head, giving a big smile.

"We're not letting up, mine as well tell us." Tenzo stated. I sighed. _Can't get out of this one. I don't want to lie anymore._

"He was a very powerful Uchiha." I stated vaguely.

"There was an Uchiha outside of the village that long ago? Who was he?" Kakashi persisted.

"Madara Uchiha..." I looked up, I didn't think they would believe me. There was silence for a few seconds. I felt my throat choke up at the thought of Madara. _Oh no. They're going to tell everyone. I messed up big time. Obito is going to have my head..._

"He was still alive?" Kakashi asked, sitting next to me.

"Yes, he died of old age. He kept us hidden so no one would know of any of us." My voice cracked by the end of it. _He protected me and took care of me... Here I am betraying him._

"He may have been seen as an enemy, but even enemies can be family." Kakashi whispered. "You'll always have us to talk to about everything."

"The fact that you have the other nine-tails makes sense now, I'm not surprised Madara got his hands on him." Tenzo stated thoughtfully.

The rest of the night blew by, a weight was off my shoulders that I didn't even realize was there. Kakashi and Tenzo said they would take both watches so that I could rest. We agreed to leave early the next morning to go back home.

…

I was sitting in my study trying to write our mission report. I kept getting distracted, I was thinking about the future again. I didn't have any doubts about protecting the people I loved, I was stuck on how I was going to do that. I loved people on both sides of the upcoming battle. _Who knows, you might not have to make a decision. Something could go wrong before it comes to that point. _I groaned and threw my pen down, spinning in my chair. I came to a stop when I was facing the bookshelf, something had caught my eye momentarily. I walked over to it and started sifting through the books.

I pulled out one that I hadn't read yet and started to flip through the pages. When I reached chapter one there was a hole cut out of the book. I gently set it down and picked up the necklace that was hidden inside. I analyzed it for a while, the chain was silver and had a silver ball at the end of it. I tried everything to open it, force, chakra, my teeth. Nothing worked. After my failed attempts I put it on and tucked it into my shirt.

"I'M SICK OF MISSION REPORTS." I shouted into my empty house. I just finished writing it and collapsed on the floor. I activated one of my tails and grabbed it from my desk before shunshining to the Hokage tower. I arrived in Tsunade's office, still laying on the ground

"Done with the report?" She asked chuckling. I held it up and she grabbed it. "You told Gaara about the Kyuubi?"

"Yes, he's also a jinchuuriki so I thought it would be smart to tell him."

She nodded and there was a knock on the door. I didn't move from my position on the ground and Tsunade tucked the report into her desk. "Come in."

Homura and Koharu walked in and took in the room. "Kyo, glad you're here. Let's all chat."

I glanced over at Tsunade and we both nodded, unspoken communication received. We were not going to tell them about the Kyuubi. They both sat in the two remaining chairs and I took a seat on the window sill.

"We had a couple of questions regarding the jutsu you used during your spar." Koharu stated.

"You have a dojutsu that we've never heard of and when you use it you can summon up to 5 tails." Homura's gaze was like steel. I could tell he was trying to read me, luckily I didn't have to lie.

"Yes. I have a summoning with foxes, they've trained me since I was young. I was deemed worthy by their elders since I am an Uzumaki."

"You resembled the nine-tailed fox." He stated, getting right to the point.

"Naruto has the nine-tails sealed within him. You both know that." Tsunade said, her voice was annoyed. I don't think she can have any other tone when she speaks with them.

"I'm not so sure after seeing her performance." Koharu stated.

"It's the truth, Naruto has the nine-tails. I just have a fox summoning, they're different." I stood up from the sill and glanced at Tsunade.

"You are dismissed, Kyo." She gave me a small smile before I shunshined to my home.

Chapter 11

_What a beautiful day._ I was laying in my favorite training ground waiting for my sparring partner. It's been five months since I started being honest about myself with my teammates and I wouldn't have it any other way. Kurama still isn't back from Strato yet, he's checked in a couple of times since he left, but other than small talk I haven't heard anything about a prophecy.

"Kyo! You shouldn't have your guard down, I could've attacked you." I looked up and smiled at my sparring partner from the past five months.

I activated my six tails and restrained Kakashi. "You know my guard is never down."

"You wouldn't be able to do this if I hadn't helped you unlock your sixth tail."

I smirked and released him. He was right, I wouldn't have gotten this far without his help. Ever since my new addition, the underside of my hair was completely black and the rest was a darker red. I tied it up and took a fighting stance, waiting for him to make the first move. He lunged at me and we rolled a couple of feet with me landing on top, our kunais at each other's throats.

We spend almost all of our time together, he's become my best friend. We're either training together or on missions. He started staying at my place with Naruto's blessing, it gets lonely without Kurama around and Naruto is traveling around with Jiraiya again for a bit. Something about a novel and that Naruto is a good editor.

We were sitting under a tree next to a crater I made talking about the clouds. Kakashi tried to make them out to be something they're not and we got into a heated discussion about having high expectations of clouds. Which was then acknowledged as a good pun, and laughter ensued.

"You're so dense." I smacked the back of his head, still chuckling about the joke.

"Unlike the clouds apparently." I started laughing even harder and pushed Kakashi over. We were both rolling around laughing, looking like a couple of idiots.

"Kakashi-Sensei!" A voice shouted from the other side of the training ground. We both sat up and my heart nearly stopped.

"Tsunade told us we'd find you two here." Jiraiya stated as they made their way over. I couldn't stop the grin from making its way across my face.

I was tackled to the ground by a mess of blonde hair.

"Welcome home." That was all I could manage because my voice caught as well. "Have you had any ramen yet?" I stood up and offered my hand to Kakashi, who happily took it.

"Nope! Was planning on heading there right now." He gave me a thumbs up.

"I'll be treating ramen, Kakashi and Jiraiya are welcome to join." I glanced at both of them and noticed that Jiraiya's face was a little pink and Kakashi was wearing his famous eye smile.

"Awesome!"

"I'll meet you guys there, I need to go invite one more person." I shunshined away to the academy. Naruto reached out and caught one of my embers in his hand, scorching it.

"Ow ow ow!" He blew on his hand and shook it around.

…

I appeared at the academy right next to Iruka and he jumped out of his skin.

"Kami, Kyo! You scared the life out of me." His skin had paled significantly so I didn't doubt that statement.

"Wanna go grab some ramen? I'd say you need a break from grading papers." I grabbed his arm before he could object and teleported us to Ichiraku's. When we arrived I could see the small trio approaching us in the distance and I flipped Iruka around so he would face in the right direction.

The look on his face went from startled, to confused, to completely overjoyed. I could see the love between Naruto and Iruka when they hugged, the family-like bond between them. It warmed my heart to no end. We all went inside and sat down on the stools. Naruto flocked on either side by me and Iruka, Kakashi next to me, and Jiraiya next to him. Teuchi and Ayame looked elated to see Naruto in their little shop again.

"Naruto I'm glad you're back, Kyo took your ramen eating record while you were gone." Teuchi said, gesturing at me. A smirk made its way across my face and I took out my wallet.

"That's why I'm paying today." Naruto grinned and rubbed his hands together, seeming excited about our little competition. "I've been saving up for this for a while now."

"The usual for everyone?" Ayame asked and we all nodded. They went away to work on our orders and Naruto turned to me.

"What are the stakes?" He had an evil glint in his eyes.

"The winner is whoever eats the most bowls of ramen, not who eats the fastest. I like to enjoy my meals. If I win you have to start reading the Uzumaki scrolls in the study, if you win I'm going to start helping you train the nine-tails."

"Deal, dattebayo!" He practically jumped in the air with excitement.

"Kyo, you wouldn't get anything out of either of those options." Jiraiya spoke up and raised an eyebrow.

"Who says I won't get anything out of spending time with him." I grinned when the first round of ramen was set in front of me.

"Itadakimasu!"

Naruto appeared to not even taste his ramen, I'm pretty sure his tactic was to get so far ahead that I wouldn't be able to catch up. He got to his fifth bowl and started to slow down a little, I felt him look over at me.

"Kyo, are you even trying?" He chuckled to himself and started on his sixth.

I finished drinking the broth from my first bowl and started on my second. "As I said, I like to taste my food."

"Don't underestimate her, Naruto. I think you'll be surprised." Kakashi smiled at me and a slight pink rose in his cheeks.

"Kakashi-sensei, you haven't even read your icha-icha book. Are you two dating or something?" I choked slightly on the ramen I was eating and Kakashi fell off his chair.

"No, actually. We're just really good friends." Kakashi got back onto his chair and watched me finish my second bowl.

"Is she single then?" Jiraiya got a slight nosebleed and I chuckled. _What a perv._

"My love life is nonexistent, I only have room for Naruto." A slight pink rose in Naruto's cheeks and I decided to get them talking so I could keep eating. "How's the novel?"

Jiraiya began talking excitedly, I noticed Kakashi paying close attention to what he was saying. Naruto chimed in often blatantly arguing with the sage. I started eating my fourth bowl and Naruto was talking to Iruka about something, seeming to forget about our little competition. I glanced over at Kakashi and he noticed too.

"Looks like someone's going to do a lot of reading." I smirked at him and he rolled his eyes. Iruka made a coughing noise and I glanced over at them. I barely noticed I had moved onto my sixth bowl and was nearly done with it.

"NANI!" Naruto shouted and started piling food into his mouth. He slowed down significantly when he was chewing though, he seemed to be full.

I glanced suspiciously at Kakashi who was preparing my next bowl of ramen to replace my current one. "How have I not noticed you've been doing this?"

"I guess you're just that enthralled with our conversation." He eye smiled at me and replaced my bowl.

"I know I haven't seen him in a while, but I thought he could eat more."

"His metabolism is extremely high, but yours is insane too."

I finished my bowl and Naruto collapsed backward onto the floor. "You done?" I asked and reached my hand down to him.

"Yeah..." I pulled him back onto his seat and started paying for everyone's meals. "Guess that means I lost."

He seemed kind of down so I wrapped my arm around his neck. "Are you kidding? Now you get to learn jutsus _and _train with me. How could that be perceived as losing?" He stood up straighter and a grin graced his face, bigger than I'd ever seen. We parted ways with Iruka and Jiraiya to head toward our home.

I asked Naruto about his travels and he went on and on. Everything he said planted a warm feeling in my chest. I missed him so much. _I barely noticed the hole that had grown when he was gone because of Kakashi and Tenzo. I don't know what I would have done if I was completely alone again._

_**What'd I miss?**_

_Kurama! I missed you._

_**I could've guessed, I'm awesome.**_

_I'm walking next to your other half right now._

_**What?! Make contact with Naruto, I only need a second.**_

I bumped into him and he tackled me to the ground. We were rolling around like a bunch of kids when Naruto threatened to tickle me and saw the fear on my face. Right when he was about to I activated my tails and held him out of reach.

"Whoa. When did you get the sixth?"

I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment and Kakashi chuckled. "Kakashi helped me."

We all walked into the house and sat down in the living room, I told them to chat while I went into the kitchen to grab a couple of drinks. I went to reach for the glasses but something felt odd, I was so distracted that I accidentally dropped one in the process. I went to catch it before it shattered but it was stuck in the air, barely moving.

I seized the opportunity and shunshined to the village. I returned to the kitchen and caught the cup before it hit the counter. I brought out the drinks and the guys were chatting like I would have expected. I didn't bother sitting down, I could sense people approaching the door.

"Kyo, what are you doing?" Kakashi asked with a raised eyebrow. There was a knock on the door and I opened it, smiling at my guests. Each of their faces were completely confused and they all held fliers I had made.

"So we got these fliers somehow?" Kiba asked.

I moved away from the door so that everyone could see into the living room. There was unanimous surprise when a certain blonde turned around and grinned. Everyone filed in to greet him and welcome him home, I put up a banner across the ceiling with my tails and caught everyone's attention.

"Naruto's home so I thought it fitting to have a welcome home party."

"I was only gone for five months, Kyo. You just want an excuse for another party."

"When did you even have time to plan this?" Kakashi asked. "You literally just found out a couple of hours ago."

"When I was getting drinks I noticed that time slowed down so I made some fliers and delivered them to everyone, hence why you didn't see me."

Naruto looked more confused than ever, but everyone else seemed to understand what had happened. We played games just like the first night. Everyone got pretty drunk once again, rather quickly this time and the party seemed to have a more relaxed atmosphere. The consensus was that we all missed him, our knucklehead couldn't hold his alcohol and it was far more entertaining to have him and Guy goofing around.

"Does it feel nice not to be the center of attention for once?" Kakashi asked, sitting next to me in the kitchen.

"It's relieving. I always liked watching parties more than being fully engaged in them. I'm glad I have tonight to breathe and just be with the people I care about."

"You both have a really strong bond. You should be a part of team 7 officially. I know you're overqualified but I'm starting to get more worried about the Akatsuki and it would be nice if you were there."

"Pretty please!" A pair of arms draped their way around my shoulders and I saw a very red face. Naruto was definitely not mentally present. He rubbed his whiskered cheek against mine and I blushed.

"How could I say no? I'll do anything to protect my family." Kakashi and Naruto both grinned. For some reason, I had a feeling that Kakashi was happier with my response than Naruto was.

Everyone had made their way into the living room and I was filling up my glass. I was about to make my way back to the party when I was rather rudely interrupted.

_**So I talked with Naruto's Kyuubi.**_

_How'd that go? It's been a while._

_**He's stubborn, I tried to tell him about your black tail but he just laughed me off. **_

_Okay. How's Strato?_

_**We're making progress. My student, Vesuvius, hasn't had any dreams yet. I'm going to stick around a while longer to see if one comes to him.**_

_Will you be home soon?_

Chapter 12

We all had fallen asleep in the living room, I woke up early and went into the kitchen to make tea when an anbu appeared.

"Captain, the Hokage is summoning you and your team. I can go summon Yahimaru, you bring Tenzo."

I nodded and he vanished. I walked into the living room and woke up Tenzo, shaking him lightly and holding a finger to my lips. He met me in the kitchen after a couple of minutes. I left a note for everyone explaining that we had been summoned for a mission and to not worry about the house. I left a bunch of breakfast foods on the counter and little notes to find the rest. I also crept over to where Naruto was sleeping and slid a note into one of his hands. Tenzo and I began walking to the tower.

"What was that note you left Naruto?" Tenzo asked.

"Telling him to go see his room, I redid it while he was away, his furniture was getting old and he's grown more. I think it'll be a nice surprise."

Tenzo rubbed his temple slightly and was squinting in the early morning sun.

"You look out of it." I chuckled at this disheveled appearance.

"A hangover is not a good way to start the day, especially when there's a mission." I threw him a bottle of painkillers and he glanced at me gratefully.

"I wonder what's going on. Yahimaru is supposed to be on our team instead of Kakashi."

"I don't know, maybe they need him for another mission. It'll be nice to see Yahimaru again though."

We knocked on the door and Tsunade summoned us in. I practically ran over to Yahimaru and tackled him in an embrace.

"It's so good to see you. I'm glad you're in one piece."

"Of course I am, I've been waiting for this moment to be on your team again." He grinned and Tsunade cleared her throat.

"There's a very serious matter at hand. We don't have a lot of time so I'm going to give you a scroll that includes a complete briefing, but here's the rundown." I glanced over at Tenzo and he looked concerned. "The Kazekage has been taken by the Akatsuki."

I felt my throat catch. _It's already starting._

"What do you mean?" Tenzo asked, shock and confusion lacing the lines in his face.

"The Akatsuki are collecting tailed beasts. From eye witness reports Deidara, an Iwagakure rogue, kept referring to him as the one-tail jinchuuriki. The other member partnered with him is still unknown. Your mission is to gather intel on the Akatsuki, their members, bases, and future plans. We have a lead on one of their bases in Iwagakure."

"What about Gaara?" I choked out.

"I'm sending two other teams after him." Tsunade handed me a series of scrolls containing more information and empty ones for the intel. "I've provided you with everything we know as of this point, it isn't a lot so that's where you come in. Leave immediately."

We all teleported to prepare for the mission. I went to my room and started to change and pack my gear. I could hear voices downstairs and people eating. I was trying to hold myself together after I heard the news about Gaara. I couldn't risk seeing everyone. I went straight to the gates and waited about another minute for my team to meet me there. They barely appeared beside me and we started to run.

***With Naruto***

I woke up and felt a crumpled piece of paper in my hand. Everyone had already moved into the kitchen to eat breakfast, so I was the only one in the living room. I sat up and my head began throbbing immediately. I unfolded the small scrap of paper.

_Naruto-_

_Go see your room. I'm going on a mission right now and I don't know how long I'll be gone. Be safe and smart. Stick with Kakashi, he's been living here since you left._

_I love you,_

_Kyo._

I wandered down the upstairs hallway, head throbbing. When I got to the door I noticed my swirl poster hanging on it. I smiled at the little detail, I missed being home. When I opened it I gasped. There were new furniture and new clothes in the closet. On the dresser was a bottle of painkillers. _She thinks of everything._

"She really outdid herself." Kakashi said from the doorway.

"She always does." Naruto grinned.

***With Kyo***

It took us a day and a half to travel to Iwagakure. I had reread the scrolls Tsunade gave me multiple times and relayed the information to my teammates. We were all very tense, we knew that the success of the other teams rode on our investigation. We were supposed to gather as much as we could in a day's time at Iwa, once we returned to Konoha it would be around the same time the other teams were to pursue Gaara. We send our intel to them before they clash with the Akatsuki so that they could have the advantage.

There wasn't time for rest, we devised a plan upon arrival. Yahimaru would stay outside the hideout to keep watch while Tenzo and I went in. We camped outside for an hour, watching to see if any guards made rounds or if anyone entered or exited. Eventually, Tenzo and I went in. No one seemed to be at the hideout. I took note that no one was there and that they might have been summoned once Shukaku and Gaara had been captured. Tenzo and I split up and investigated the rooms in the long corridor. We stayed close so that if something were to happen, the other could be back up. I began sealing all the scrolls and books that I could find, planning to read them once we returned to the village. _It's not like Obito tells me anything anyway. _I informed Tenzo to do the same, unless anything stuck out.

I heard Tenzo call out to me as I finished up my last room in the hallway. Most of the rooms had cots and a desk, mainly empty. A few had books and papers scattered, but most were nothing of importance.

"What's up?" I asked as I jogged into his room.

"This." He handed me a bingo book. I began flipping through the pages and noticed that it was compiled with some of the most wanted shinobi in all the nations, filling perspectives from all the great villages. Some faces were circled while others were crossed out. I found Deidara rather quickly and noticed he was circled, others who were circled were Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki who I recognized as members. Orochimaru was circled then crossed off and I knew he wasn't dead, so I thought for a moment.

"I wonder if the X's are ex-Akatsuki or declined members while the circles are current members. This is perfect Tenzo." I sealed it into my belt and we made our way out of the hideout.

Outside the air was stiff with a thick smell of iron. Tenzo and I immediately tensed, we made our way over to where we left Yahimaru only to find a trail of blood. I held my breath as we followed it. I felt my heart rate increase as the abundance of blood became more apparent. I sensed Tenzo brace as we stepped through a bush. Yahimaru lay mangled on the ground, not a breath left in him.

I growled and activated my Kenryokugan and all six of my tails. I went to pick him up with one and as soon as I touched him I sensed kunai heading in our direction. I picked him up gently and brought him to me while Tenzo shielded us with his wood jutsu. I lay Yahimaru on the ground behind me and let a scream ripple its way out of me.

"COME OUT AND FIGHT ME, COWARDS." I sensed fifty chakra signatures in the trees surrounding us. I made hand signs at Tenzo and he nodded. We needed to get out of here alive, create an opening to escape. _There must have been Iwagakure shinobi guarding the base. When we went in they attacked Yahimaru. _I felt my voice choke up and I quickly whipped out a scroll to take a note of this attack. _We already knew that Iwa was hiring the Akatsuki to do their dirty work but I never could have imagined they would go this far to protect them... Especially because they possess two jinchuuriki._

The wood surrounding us burst into flames and Tenzo scattered away from me. I stayed next to my fallen comrade as Iwagakure engaged me. The shinobi weren't anything special. My fight against the jonin was far more difficult, but they also had the advantage. They had us outnumbered 25:1.

"Lightning Release: Jaws of Thor!" I leapt in the air and brought down a large burst of lightning onto my opponents, scorching the majority of them. _They aren't engaging all their men at once, I can't hit them all. I need to take my time and save my chakra._

I unsheathed Reaper Release and ran at seven of them. My tails whipping around me and throwing them into trees. One after another they fell, each one dying a more gruesome death than the last. I wanted revenge, I didn't want Yahimaru to die in vain.

I let out another enraged scream and siphoned wind chakra into my blade, spinning in a circle and leveling the forest around us. More shinobi fell to the ground, sliced in half. There were too many, I was trying to think of strategies and ways to fight them all off so that I could get back to my teammate. We fight the strongest when we're together. _They aren't giving me a chance to think._

"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"I blew all of the shinobi far enough away to give me a couple of seconds to devise a plan. _I've got it!_

I started running over to Tenzo, my tails deflecting the attacks from the shinobi I had been fighting. I was fifty meters away when time slowed down. Tenzo had extended his arm using a wood jutsu and the Iwa shinobi engulfed it in flames. The flames raced up his arm, fast even in the slowed down time. As Tenzo reacted to the fire and detached the wood from his arm, the shinobi picked up the chunk of burning wood and began to swing it towards him.

"TENZO NO!" I shrieked. _I just have to get to him in time. _I was five meters away and I leapt. The scorching wood sliced his chest and flung him into my arms. Time returned to normal and Tenzo looked at me.

"Thanks, Captain. You always seem to catch me when I fall." He coughed up blood and I was putting pressure on his wound. My tails continued to protect me from the Iwa shinobi, but I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it up much longer.

"Don't you dare let go. I need you on my team, I need you and Kakashi." Tears slipped down my cheeks and a smile barely picked up the corners of his lips.

"Save Gaara and Naruto." He coughed again and his eyes went blank.

_No._ I felt my eyes burning as tears raced down my cheeks.

A blood-curdling scream pierced the air. Heat raced through my veins and a red aura engulfed me. Then everything went black.

Chapter 13

I stirred on the ground. My skin was mostly burned off and my muscles felt ripped. I sat up and took in my surroundings. Bodies were scattered around me like leaves on the forest floor. I couldn't remember anything. I looked around and saw Tenzo and Yahimaru and felt my heart collapse. I tried to run over to them but my body protested. I limped over and collapsed next to them. _No one gets left behind._ I was about to activate my tails to carry them when I sensed a chakra signature behind me. I attacked instinctively, barely recognizing the signature.

"Seems you've caused quite the spectacle." Obito said as one of my tails slid right through him.

"Leave. Me. Alone." My voice cracked and I couldn't look at him.

"I told you not to get too attached, they would have died eventually anyway. I don't see the Akatsuki avoiding a war."

"I can't just shut off my emotions like you."

"Surprising, you are the nine-tails. I didn't think you could feel at all."

"I am NOT THE NINE TAILS!" I shrieked and lunged at him. He let me tackle him to the ground and he just looked at me.

"The Infinite Tsukuyomi will allow you to be with them again. Just let me go through with capturing the jinchuuriki and everything will be ok in the end. I promise."

I started crying and Obito wrapped his arms around me. He felt me flinch at his touch and noticed my wounds. "I saw what happened. You turned into a beast, you obliterated everything. I was surprised you acquired the mangekyou though."

"I… what?" I looked at him.

"It actually is quite spectacular for our plan. Madara would be so proud." I stayed quiet for a moment. "You better get going, you don't want your village to worry." He vanished without another word.

I sat for a long time staring at my teammates. There was a crushing pain in my chest. I activated my Kenryokugan and picked both of them up with my tails and started to walk. It took all of my energy to carry the two of them, I didn't have any remaining chakra and Kurama wasn't here to heal my wounds. Every step hurt, the breeze burned my skin and eyes. After hours of walking I had to deactivate my tails and carry them. Blood ran down my arms and legs from holding them against my wounds. I was leaving a trail for Iwa to follow, although I'm sure that any reinforcements wouldn't pursue.

…

_No one gets left behind. No one gets left behind. No one gets left behind. _

I walked for five days straight. I didn't stop to sleep or eat. I kept moving toward the village. My teammates and I were covered in blood, a fair mixture of the enemy's and our own, but mostly mine. My eyes were glassy and I couldn't comprehend what I was seeing anymore.

"No one gets left behind. No one gets left behind. No one gets left behind." I mumbled approaching the gates. I barely noticed when Izumo and Kotetsu called out my name. I was 20 feet away when they saw my dead comrades and my life threatening injuries.

"No one gets left behind. No one gets left behind. No one gets left behind."

"Kyo, snap out of it!" Izumo yelled taking my teammates away from me.

"We need to get you to the hospital." Kotetsu said picking me up.

"My teammates and I need to give the intel from our mission to the Hokage. It's crucial to save the Kazekage." I whimpered.

"The Kazekage has already been saved by Naruto's team. Let's get you to the hospital." My heart stopped. _They didn't have to die._

_No one gets left behind. No one gets left behind. I promised Kakashi no one would get left behind._

I started crying as Kotetsu carried me to the hospital. Izumo had taken my men somewhere else and when I noticed I couldn't get myself together.

"I promised Kakashi nobody would get left behind!" I yelled and Kotetsu held me closer to his chest.

"You brought them home, you didn't leave anyone behind. It's incredible that you made it." He whispered as we landed in front of the hospital.

_No one gets left behind. No one gets left behind. No one gets left behind._

It was quiet. People were running around me, I saw their mouths moving fast and their faces were creased. I was laid down on a stretcher and taken to a room. I couldn't hear them. A mask was put over my face and I fell out of consciousness.

_No one gets left behind. No one gets left behind. No one gets left behind._

I opened my eyes and saw my body wrapped in bandages. Shikamaru was sleeping next to me and there were flowers around the room. I stood up and walked over to the bathroom. When I was washing my hands I saw blood all over them, my breathing picked up and I started scrubbing. No matter how much I did I couldn't get it off. I let out a strangled noise and Shikamaru had his arms wrapped around me, pulling me away from the sink.

"No! It won't come off!" I shrieked, trying to get back to the running water. He laid me on the bed and I curled into a ball, holding my head in my hands. "No one gets left behind. No one gets left behind. No one gets left behind."

Shikamaru tried to wrap his arms around me and comfort me but his touch terrified me.

"Get away from me!" I shouted and started crying again. _No one gets left behind. No one gets left behind. No one gets left behind._

Tsunade came into the room and she looked at Shikamaru who only nodded and left.

"Kyo?" I glanced over at her and she took in the terrified expression on my face. "The intel you gathered from the Akatsuki base is more than enough. You exceeded our expectations."

"How could someone who let her comrades die exceed expectations!" I shouted. I sensed the bodies of the people outside my room stop.

"Their deaths were honorable, they were protecting the village, you must understand that."

"I shouldn't have left them alone… I should have stayed with them. I should have protected them!" I started rocking back and forth on my bed. "I let them down."

Tsunade walked over and sat next to me. She wrapped her arm around me and pulled me to her chest. I cried for a long time. "Shizune?"

The door opened and Shizune entered looking extremely worried. "Yes, my lady?"

"Cancel all my appointments today. I need to mentally examine Kyo to make sure she is safe to discharge."

"Of course." Shizune exited and I felt her chakra signature leave quickly.

"Come on, Kyo. Let's go to my office." I nodded and we stood up together. She was about to exit when I froze in place. "What's wrong?"

"Can I teleport us there?" I whispered. She reached out and took my hand, giving me a reassuring nod, and we vanished.

"So that's everything that happened?" Tsunade asked putting down her pen. She just finished writing a full mission report based off of my recounting.

"There is one more thing…" I said, forcing chakra into my eyes. I felt my two dojutsu combine and Tsunade gasped.

"What is that?" Although, I could tell she had a hunch.

"When I lost Tenzo I evolved my dojutsu and the mangekyou formed. I can only activate both of my dojutsu together so I developed a new name for it, Kenrinkugan."

"You're so young to develop your own dojutsu."

"I was shocked when I noticed it." Tsunade sighed and gave me a hug.

"You're free to go home, I will have anbu stationed around your home in case you need anything."

"Thank you, Lady Tsunade." I whispered and teleported home.

Chapter 14

_Tsunade looked up from the paperwork in front of her and smiled. "I'm going to have you and Tenzo oversee Naruto's training when he returns. He has his wood release jutsu that can subdue the power of the nine tails and you already seem to have a handle on it." _

_Tenzo appeared next to me and gave me the brightest smile. _

"_What if I fail you?" I whispered._

"_I'm more than honored to be fighting with you." Tenzo said, resting his hand on my shoulder. _

"_I've been waiting for this moment to be on your team again." Yahimaru said hugging me._

"_She's a jinchuuriki." Tsunade eyed my team._

"_She's a comrade, we would never leave her behind." Tenzo stated adamantly. Kakashi nodded next to him. _

_The room shifted to my dining room, everyone was there. _

"_Yamato stop distracting me!" His face was right next to the cups with his creepy expression. I threw the ball at his face in frustration and when it hit he was suddenly in my arms. Blood covered his chest and he had a small smile on his face. _

"_You always seem to catch me when I fall." He whispered._

_Kakashi entered the room and stood next to Tenzo. "You promised me no one would get left behind." _

I screamed and jolted upright. My shirt was damp from crying and my blankets were scattered around the room. One of the anbu came in to check on me and I waved him off, telling him I had a nightmare. I knew he was going to report it to Tsunade, so long as he left for a while.

I stood up and went into the shower. I sat, unmoving for hours. The water had gone cold a long time ago but I couldn't bring myself to move. It had been three days. Three days of sitting up because sleep was no relief. Thinking about what I could have done differently. I hadn't been able to bring myself to eat, anbu came in every time I missed a meal, but I couldn't keep it down.

***Hokage's Office***

There was a knock on the door and Tsunade looked up from the Akatsuki reports she had been working on. _They're going to ask about what happened to the intel, I told them they would receive it before they left to pursue Gaara. Not receiving it at all is going to raise suspicion._

"Come in." Team Guy and Team Kakashi entered the office. Naruto had both of his hands behind his head, a grin plastered to his face. Sakura looked annoyed at something he must have said and smacked the back of his head. Kakashi was reading Icha-Icha while ignoring Guy.

"We're back Granny!" Naruto said, giving her a big thumbs up.

"How'd the mission go? Based on your positive expressions I assume it was a success?"

"Gaara is safe back in Sunagakure, the ichibi was extracted from him, but he was revived by Granny Chiyo." Kakashi reported.

"I'm glad to hear. Get your mission reports to me when you can…" Tsunade sighed and rubbed her eyes.

"My Lady… I've been wondering. What happened to the intel we were to receive?" Sakura asked cautiously, she sensed something off about her sensei.

Lady Tsunade's head fell in her hands and everyone grew tense and quiet.

"I had sent Kyo's team to gather the intel." Everyone's hearts stopped momentarily.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked. He was clenching Icha-Icha between his fingers.

"The hideout was in Iwagakure, they're protecting the Akatsuki. Kyo's team was to infiltrate one of the hideouts and gain intel. They were attacked by more than fifty Iwa shinobi." Tsunade took a deep breath and looked up at Kakashi. "Tenzo and Yahimaru are dead."

Kakashi had been clenching his book so hard that the spine ripped and the pages fell to the floor.

"What about Kyo?" Naruto asked frantically.

"After they died, she said she blacked out. When she woke up all the Iwagakure shinobi were dead. Her injuries were life threatening, she carried both of them five days back to the village. When Izumo and Kotetsu intercepted her at the gates… They said she kept mumbling that no one was to get left behind and that she wouldn't snap out of it. She hasn't been able to eat or sleep for the past week according to the anbu I have watching her."

Kakashi vanished in a tornado of leaves and Naruto bolted from the room. Both of them going to the same place.

"When is the funeral?" Guy asked, his hands clasped tightly in front of him.

"Tomorrow. I wanted you all to be back safely for it."

***With Kyo***

I was sitting on the kitchen floor, my back leaning against the island. Memories raced through me as I gazed at the dining room. I could see Tenzo at my parties. I remembered fighting him when I first came to the village. My first mission with him and Kakashi. My first mission with him and Yahimaru. My cheeks were already stained with dried tears that never seemed to stop coming. Leaves swirled in the air beside me and someone was holding me. I closed my eyes and tried to hold back more tears.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi. I let you down." I whispered.

"You brought them home. That's more than I could do in the past." He picked me up and carried me into the living room. He laid me down on the couch and my face was buried in his chest. Naruto burst into the house and closed the door behind him. He came over and lifted my legs, draping them across his lap.

We all sat like that for a long time. Kakashi was running his fingers through my hair and Naruto was just staring at me. He eventually stood up and went upstairs, coming back down with a pile of books from my dresser. He started to read through them out loud, breaking the silence and distracting me from my own mind. Eventually everything turned dark.

_Tenzo appeared next to me and gave me the brightest smile. _

"_What if I fail you?" I whispered._

"_I'm more than honored to be fighting with you." Tenzo said, resting his hand on my shoulder. _

"_I've been waiting for this moment to be on your team again." Yahimaru said hugging me._

I screamed and activated my Kenrinkugan. Kakashi's arms tightened around me so I couldn't flail and Naruto narrowly avoided one of my tails. I sat up and fell face first into the cushions.

"What were you dreaming about." Naruto asked, pulling me into his chest.

"Old conversations with them." I croaked. Naruto wrapped his arms around me and made eye contact with Kakashi. He picked me up and carried me into the kitchen.

"What are you craving?" Kakashi asked, searching through my fridge and cupboards.

"I'm not hungry." I whispered, thinking of the last meal I had. The last meal I had with them.

"You need to eat. You've lost a lot of weight." Naruto whispered. "I'll go pick up some ramen, Kakashi will stay here with you." He let go of me and left the house.

Kakashi sat next to me and forced me to look at him. "We need to talk about this. You can't keep blaming yourself."

"How could I not blame myself? I'm their captain." I coughed. "I _was _their captain. I was responsible for them… I don't deserve that title if I can't keep the people under me safe."

"I can understand what you're going through better than anyone… Let me help you through this." I gazed at Kakashi and his face looked pained.

Kakashi told me about his team as genin, how he hated and resented Obito. He valued the wrong things on missions. When he finally learned what was most important, he lost everyone he cared to protect.

It was silent after he was done speaking.

"People die, Kyo. People will leave you. You just have to heal and accept what happened, and then find new people to protect and care about." I nodded and hugged him again. Naruto returned with the ramen and set the food on the counter. I went over and hugged him too.

"I promise to protect you from the Akatsuki. I'll do everything in my power not to lose you."

Chapter 15

I was standing next to Naruto and Kakashi. White flower petals floated around us and drifted onto the platform. Yahimaru and Tenzo's pictures were framed next to their caskets. Tsunade was speaking but I couldn't hear a word she was saying. I just kept looking at them.

"...Kyo carried them back from Iwagakure. It took her five days, but she was able to bring them back home to us." Tsunade fell silent and I walked forward and placed flowers in both of their caskets. I stayed for a long time at both of their sides, trying to find air and not fall apart again.

_You did everything you could. It's time for you to move on and remember them._

I took a deep breath. _Minato?_

_You may have lost them, but you also gained so much coming to Konoha. Thank you for taking care of my son, he needs you. Your friends need you. Even if he won't admit it, Kakashi needs you too. I need you to be there for them because I wasn't able to._

I nodded. _This is the second time you've pulled me out of a funk. Thank you, Minato._

_What can I say? You're kind of the vessel to my village and the people I care about. _

I walked back over to Kakashi and Naruto and they both let me lean on them. I hadn't talked to Shikamaru since the hospital. I didn't want to see anyone. I felt like a disappointment. After all the training I had done, it wasn't enough.

It was still pretty early in the day when we got back to our house. Kakashi made lunch for the three of us and they forced me to eat it. I collapsed backwards onto the floor and stared at the ceiling.

"I think it's time we get you out of the house." Naruto said, pulling me to my feet.

"You haven't trained in over a week, you don't want to lose your abs, right?" Kakashi smirked at me with his hands on his hips.

"You're right…" I grumbled and walked up the stairs to my room.

After a significant amount of time and an immense amount of grumbling from me, we made it to the training ground. Jiraiya was already there meditating on a toad. Naruto ran over to him and tackled him, causing a puff of smoke.

"That was a test and you failed." Jiraiya said from a tree to the left of us.

"What's so wrong with wanting to tackle your sensei?" Naruto pouted.

Jiraiya jumped down from where he was perched and walked over to Kakashi and me.

"I'm gonna need your help training him, we tried to open the seal slightly so that Naruto had more access to the kyuubi's power, but it went horribly wrong."

"What happened?" Kakashi asked.

"He got up to four tails, he completely lost control of himself, as if his mind was overpowered. He didn't know who he was attacking." Jiraiya sighed. "When I finally subdued him he was covered in wounds, the cloak wasn't protecting him, it was injuring him immensely."

"Is that only at four tails? Or do all the tails injure him like that?" I asked, glancing over at our goofball who was laying on the ground.

"It's not nearly as severe. When he has three tails, his body is healing at the same rate he is being hurt. When he's in four tails his skin practically flakes away and he can't heal until the cloak is gone. Four tails or higher shortens his life span significantly."

I nodded a few times thinking of a strategy. _Just don't let him reach four tails and we're good._

"Let's try it again, shall we?" I asked and activated my Kenrinkugan and all six of my tails. There was a gasp next to me and I glanced over at Kakashi.

"You unlocked the mangekyou?" He didn't have to ask when, I think he was more surprised than anything. I gave him a look that said, you literally know everything about me, you shouldn't be so surprised, don't make a scene.

I walked over to where Naruto was and rested my hand on his shoulder. I moved us to his mindscape where Kurama was caged up.

"What're we doing here?" Naruto asked.

"I have a secret to share with you." I walked over to the gate holding Kurama hostage.

"**You insolent brat, just because you've made peace with my other half doesn't mean I'm going to do the same." **He growled at me, baring his fangs.

"What does he mean, other half?"

"Your father sealed half of the Kyuubi into you and the other half into me. His power is immense, too much for a baby." I smiled back at him and walked through the gate.

"**I'll rip your head off!" **I stopped his head with my tails and rest my hand in between his eyes.

"I'm sorry about all of this. There is an enemy that Naruto needs to be prepared to fight, he needs your help." Kurama scoffed at me. "Fine, I'm borrowing some of your chakra then."

I released some of my chakra from my hand and grabbed onto his own. I held him in place with my tails and backed out of the cage. Once I disconnected it I threw it at Naruto, hitting him square in the chest. We were brought out of his mindscape and an orange cloak had already engulfed him.

"What'd you do?!" Jiraiya shouted from behind me.

"Had a little chat with the Kyuubi, borrowed some of his chakra." I stated calmly, watching as Naruto grew two tails. "Stand back, I have more tails right now." I stated as Naruto lunged at me.

We rolled a few feet and I landed on top, increasing the gravity around him and plunging both of us into a crater.

"Come on, Naruto. It's me. Gain control, I know you're in there."

He opened his mouth and started to charge a lot of chakra, it wasn't a tailed beast bomb, but I definitely didn't want to be on the receiving end of it. I jumped out of the way just in time for it to be shot into the sky. I levitated in the air a few feet away from him, waiting for him to attack. _The increased gravity won't hold him for long. I need to break him out of it before he gets more tails than me._

All of a sudden he was in front of me, I gasped slightly at his increased speed and deactivated my gravity seals. He swung at me and narrowly missed. I grabbed onto his arm with my black tail and spun around, using the momentum to launch him at the crater again. A third tail grew from behind him and wrapped it's way around my waist, plunging us both down.

The mini explosion that erupted from the crater could be seen from the village. I sensed hundreds of chakra signatures stop and turn toward our direction. I looked down at Naruto who was unconscious beneath me. We had to be about 100 feet into the ground and he took the entire impact. I slung him over my shoulder and carried us both to the ledge where Kakashi and Jiraiya were waiting.

"You alright?" Jiraiya asked, taking Naruto as we walked over to the shade.

"Yeah, I've had worse." I said as my knees buckled slightly. Kakashi wrapped an arm around my waist and helped me sit down.

"He's unreachable once the cloak is activated." Jiraiya said, setting Naruto down next to me.

"The kyuubi's chakra is centered around hatred. As long as he can tap into any of Naruto's emotions, he won't be able to gain control." I poured water on Naruto's face and he gasped.

"How do you know so much about the nine-tails?" Jiraiya asked.

"I have the other half." I stated. "Tsunade wants me to help with training him, I have a handle on the chakra."

"She talked to the Kyuubi like it was no big deal!" Naruto said, practically bouncing up and down. I laughed at his stamina, even after the cloak he could still manage to smile.

Chapter 15

The new Team Kakashi was summoned to the Hokage tower for a mission. Kakashi was still on bed rest from using his mangekyou sharingan too much when rescuing Gaara, so it was just Sakura, Naruto, and I. I met the two of them at the tower and we all headed inside. Sakura and Naruto were serious, but also excited. This was the Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission, where they would try to bring Sasuke back to the village once again.

Tsunade had given us the rundown, we all knew this was a huge opportunity for us to bring him home. The intel we had received from Sasori was too crucial, we wouldn't have another chance like this one to discover his location and hopefully see him. While we were travelling to the bridge we ran through our plan a few times.

"Okay kids one more time through. I'm going in disguised as Sasori to talk to his spy. We are going to gain information on Sasuke and hopefully be able to pursue. You two will be watching from the forest with your chakra signatures masked." I stated, looking at the two of them for confirmation.

"Hai."

The atmosphere was filled with a sense of duty, the importance of this mission weighing on us all. When we arrived at the bridge we regrouped for moral support and reassurance to ease the tension. All of our signatures were masked and we saw the spy walk out onto the bridge. I transformed into my disguise and approached him.

One of the things that Madara and I focused on during my years training with him was disguises. He wanted to be prepared for any kind of situation that might have come up. He needed me to step in as someone so that the plan could move forward. It came in handy for this exact moment, Sasori wasn't exactly the easiest person to mimic.

"I have some questions for you." I asked. The wind gusted over the bridge and revealed the spy's face. _Kabuto?_

"I realize it's been five years, Sasori, but I can't stay for long. It was difficult to even sneak out of the hideout without Orochimaru knowing." Kabuto replied.

"The Akatsuki is interested in Sasuke Uchiha. I need his and your current hideout location."

"You're not the only one interested in him. Orochimaru has multiple hideouts stationed across the great nations, we have to rotate between them in order to not be found." Kabuto replied, dodging the question.

"The current hideout." I growled, making it very clear I was not amused by his antics.

"We're stationed at a small island on a lake north of here, Sasuke and Orochimaru are both there." I grunted in response and he continued. "I've already been here for too long, let's do the hand-off so I can go."

Kabuto reached out his hand expecting me to give him something. _I either have to act now and attack him or try to retreat. We need him for intel back in the village, I have to do something or he'll become suspicious._

I whipped out my black tail to strike him, it resembled Sasori's poisonous tail he used and I hoped he wouldn't notice a difference. In the next moment Orochimaru appeared and I redirected my attack to him. He deflected it and Kabuto and I jumped back a couple meters. I only had a few seconds to think and try to figure out what was going on before my disguise was destroyed by an attack from Kabuto.

I flipped backwards a little farther and eyed the both of them. My black tail and dojutsu activated.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Orochimaru purred, eyeing me. "You're quite intriguing. I've never seen anyone like you."

"Funny, considering I was outside the barrier when you killed lord third." I smirked, trying to appear more confident in the situation than I actually felt. _I can't believe he doesn't remember me from the nine-tails attack._

"What are those eyes that you possess? I can see a sharingan mixed in there. Sasuke would be very interested in where you came from." He licked his lips at the thought. "Why don't you come back to the hideout with me?"

"Maybe in a little bit. Am I allowed a plus one, maybe two?" I asked, giving a sweet smile and signaling my team. Naruto and Sakura appeared beside me, out of the corner of my eye I could see Naruto shaking and glanced over at him. _He has Kurama's eyes. _

"How interesting that you two are with this girl. But she isn't a girl, she is definitely older than the two of you. Perhaps she could beat Sasuke, but you two wouldn't stand a chance."

Naruto began developing the Kyuubi chakra cloak and one tail appeared behind him. I watched both of them and saw Sakura look confused and frightened. _I need to stop this before it gets out of hand… But Orochimaru is here, if I let my guard down for a second he'll have us._

"Where is Sasuke!" Naruto growled, the aura and anger shook Sakura. I could feel the fear radiating off of her. I glanced over reassuringly and she seemed to relax.

"If you really want to know about Sasuke, I guess you're going to have to force it out of me. If you're up for it."

Naruto grew another tail in his rage and began approaching Orochimaru. "Don't talk about Sasuke like that. You don't own him!"

"Let's see who's gotten stronger, you or Sasuke."

"He doesn't belong to you!" Naruto's third tail appeared and he attacked Orochimaru, launching him into the trees on the other side of the bridge. Kabuto ran at Naruto from the back to attack him, but was blown back by a gust of chakra. _That's the attack he tried to use on me._

Kabuto collided with Sakura, knocking her out cold, and he vanished into the trees. The bridge began to collapse from the blast and Naruto leapt to pursue Orochimaru.

"Sakura!" I yelled. _ She must be unconscious from when Kabuto hit her. _The bridge was collapsing fast and I ran over to her. She slipped off the edge and I cursed under my breath, diving down after her. I caught her and flew us back up to the other side of the bridge.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu." I sent my clone after Naruto, I was worried about his three tails. One more comment from Orochimaru and he would be at four.

I landed on a tree outside of a massive crater. Naruto and Orochimaru were standing in the middle of it and I sent chakra to my ears so I could hear them better.

"You're no Sasuke, you're not even in the same league." Orochimaru laughed and an explosion of chakra emitted from Naruto, causing a shockwave to move through the forest back to the bridge.

_No!_ I felt my chest start hurting at the sight. His skin was completely red and the chakra had seemed to embed itself into his cells. _Tenzo had Hashirama's cells… He could have suppressed the nine-tails. _

Orochimaru and Naruto began to fight. The power that emitted from the two of them was immense, they appeared to be neck and neck. Orochimaru kept molting and reattaching himself like a snake which was mildly disturbing to say the least. If Naruto developed another tail Orochimaru would be done for, and I think he knew that.

_Why didn't I die for Tenzo? He would be so much better for this. What would he do? What would he do that I could do too? _I stopped my thoughts as Naruto began moving positive and negative chakra balls around him, turning them into a concentrated chakra form. Orochimaru retreated to the side of the crater, seeming uneasy toward the spectacle. Then Naruto swallowed it. His form began to expand slightly and Orochimaru activated a jutsu.

"Summoning: Triple Rashomon."

Three gates appeared between Naruto and Orochimaru, shielding him from the impending blast. Even with the three gates, one of the most powerful summonings for protection, the blast obliterated them all and blew Orochimaru back against the wall of the crater. He lay mangled on the ground, arms and legs clearly shattered.

_Tenzo asked you to protect him. What would he do? What would he... No. YOU are the nine-tails! You have to save him. _

There was a rumbling underground and a sword pierced through the rock, pushing Naruto up into the air. Orochimaru's head appeared from underground, a sword and snake coming from his mouth. Naruto was pushed out of sight in the direction of the bridge and Orochimaru's head followed in the same direction, his neck reaching the entire way. I dispelled myself and brought everything I had seen to the original.

I had finally healed Sakura and brought her back to consciousness when my shadow clone's memories flooded into me. I gasped when Naruto was pushed into the ground on our side of the bridge, dust and rubble exploding everywhere. When it all cleared Sakura started crying at the sight of Naruto. _Four tails. I have to do something now._

"Naruto stop! I can save Sasuke, I'm not holding you to your promise anymore! Please stop!" Sakura shouted as she sprinted at Naruto.

"Sakura no!" I followed her cautiously, keeping my eyes on Naruto. He looked towards us and I could tell he didn't know who we were. One of his tails prepared to attack Sakura and I turned off my gravity seals. I was smacked by the tail in the back, shielding Sakura from the entire blow.

"Kyo!" Sakura shouted in surprise, concerned about my injury.

"Don't worry about me, stay back."

_**Kit, what's going on? I sense my other half's chakra. Are you hurt?**_Kurama practically shouted from inside me.

_Perfect timing, I need your help._

Naruto had turned toward us and was crouched low to the ground, clearly forgetting about Orochimaru who was nowhere in sight. I set Sakura down in the trees and activated all six of my tails. Naruto lunged at me and our tails clashed. I grabbed his shoulders and wrapped my two extra tails around his chest then threw us off the cliff. _Now, Kurama!_

_**On it.**_Kurama moved into Naruto's mindscape and tackled his other half. Holding him against the cell floor.

"**What are you doing?! I'm trying to escape!" **Naruto's Kurama shrieked. Struggling against his own weight.

"**Snap out of it! You're going to kill him!" **Kurama began charging a tailed beast bomb and shot it at the other's head.

"**You can't beat me, we're equal!" **Naruto's Kyuubi yelled.

"**I'm buying Kyo time to get Naruto out of the cloak. You can't fight two people at once."**

Naruto roared and tried to free himself from my tails, but he seemed distracted. _Keep it up, Kurama. I'll get through to him. _Right before we hit the water I closed my eyes for a moment and focused my chakra. When I opened them I made eye contact with Naruto. "Fox Nap." We plummeted into the water. Naruto had gone limp in my arms and when we resurfaced, his cloak began receding. I could hear Sakura yelling at us from above. I lightened the gravity and floated up to her, laying Naruto on the ground so he could be healed.

Chapter 16

Sakura was healing Naruto and I was sitting next to them keeping watch. Orochimaru and Kabuto had retreated to the hideout which meant they would probably be on the move with Sasuke soon. _Come on Naruto, we're so close._

_**Kyo, you ok? **_

_I'm fine. _

_**You don't have to lie to me. Even though I'm far away, it doesn't mean I'm not still with you. I'm sorry about Tenzo and Yahimaru.**_

_It's ok. I'm just glad I could keep Naruto alive another day. _

_**When you return to the village tell Tsunade that you have to go on a solo mission for a while. I need to summon you, there's a prophecy.**_

_Great… More pressure and expectations._

Kurama chuckled. _**You'll be fine, see you soon.**_

Naruto stirred in front of us and Sakura started crying. I was just as relieved as her that he was okay.

"What happened?" He asked, scratching the back of his head.

"We'll go over that later." I stated getting to my feet. "You two ready to get going? We don't have a lot of time."

"Where are we going?" Naruto asked, clearly confused about where we were.

"To Sasuke of course." I smiled at them and they both jumped up.

We began running north. Kabuto had said their hideout was on an island and I sent a fox and a clone to scout ahead of us. When they arrived, the clone dispelled and brought the route back to me. I jumped down from the trees and my team followed. I knelt in front of my fox and he jumped in my lap, clearly happy to see me.

"No one has left yet, I circled the perimeter and this is the only exit." He stated.

"Thank you." I said and he vanished.

I looked at Naruto and Sakura and I've never seen them so determined. We bolted through the brush and into the entrance, all of us on guard. We stayed close together because Naruto and Sakura were both weakened from their injuries earlier. I was letting them lead so that I could match their pace. The corridors were like a labyrinth, all completely symmetrical. I kept track of our turns by marking the walls with one of my tails, scorching a line along it.

We came across a split hallway.

"These have to be where he is." I stated looking at my teammates. "You two take the right, I'll take the left." We split up and I began searching every room. I turned off my gravity seal so I could move faster and get back to my team. I didn't want to split up, I didn't want to lose my teammates again.

There was an explosion in the other hall and my heart stopped. I teleported to Naruto and Sakura. I had marked them when we first left for the mission in case we got separated. They were both silent and I followed their gaze to a massive ledge where the ceiling had been blown out. _I have to leave this to Naruto and Sakura, he's their teammate. _

"Naruto. Sakura." He stated, he cast his gaze over at me and I made eye contact with him. For a second his face changed, barely visible. "Kyo." His voice sounded shocked that I was there too.

"Did you notice her mangekyou, Sasuke?" Orochimaru asked, slithering up behind him.

"Naruto, I've severed my bonds with you, I only have bonds of hatred with my older brother. Looks like you still haven't gotten the message." Sasuke said, clearly ignoring Orochimaru. He appeared in front of Naruto seconds before I had. He unsheathed his sword and I caught it with mine, pushing Naruto back with my foot. He seemed out of it, shocked.

"Chidori Current." I syphoned wind chakra into my blade and deflected his attack, Naruto took a direct hit and was pushed against one of the stones. Sasuke and I eyed each other, sharingan assessing the other. I heard Naruto's breathing pick up and Sakura was shaking him. His eyes turned red with the cat slit and I immediately grabbed his shoulder, going to his mindscape.

I tackled him to the ground and shook him hard. "Naruto look at me! You don't need his power! Sasuke is out there right now, I need you to get your shit together!" I shouted at him. He blinked a couple times at me as if realizing what I had said.

"**Why do you keep interfering with his power! He needs me!"**

"He doesn't need you! He's strong on his own." I helped Naruto to his feet and stood in front of the gates. "Stop trying to destroy him. I'll be here to stop you."

"So this is your unknown power, Naruto. Who knew you had this inside you all along." Sasuke appeared beside him and I slowly turned around.

"Get. The. HELL. OUT!" I shouted and punched him hard in the jaw. He flew backwards into the darkness and we all left the mindscape.

I activated all six of my tails and slowly approached Sasuke. His body started sparking from his Chidori. We were five meters away from one another when Orochimaru stepped in.

"Let's go, Sasuke."

Sasuke glanced at Naruto and Sakura, then stared at me as they went up in flames.

_Why is she still here?_

Chapter 17

When we walked through the village gates the mood was the same as when we left the hideout. Defeated. It was mostly silent. I knew that Naruto had the heaviest feeling out of all of us, he's come so close to Sasuke twice now and was unable to bring him back. When we got to the tower I reported our mission to Tsunade. I didn't want Naruto or Sakura to have to put into words what they were feeling.

"You all get some rest. I'll see you later with the mission report, Kyo?" Tsunade asked, sighing defeatedly.

"Hai, Ma'am." I stated and we exited her office.

Naruto and I parted ways with Sakura outside the building. We walked in silence for a couple minutes.

"I want to take you somewhere." I said, taking his arm and leading him to the village cemetery. I walked us over to his parents headstones and sat in front of them.

Naruto's brow creased and I could tell he was hurting.

"I'm not going to tell you to give up on Sasuke." I said taking one of his hands in mine. "I have plenty of people I want to save." Obito and Itachi's faces flashed in my mind, but I shook it away. "I think we just need to let him do his thing. He's past the point of persuading, you must know that."

"He's my friend, Kyo…" He whispered.

"He's focused and determined. It's his ninja way to avenge his clan. As much as you may dislike it, if he's brought back here now he'll just leave again. We're a team, Naruto. A family. I won't turn my back on him until you do. We have to let Sasuke follow this through, he's been pining over it for years."

Naruto's head fell and his hair swayed in front of his eyes.

"We just have to be there to welcome him home when he's ready, because eventually he will come back."

He looked up at me and his eyes shone slightly. I wrapped him in a hug.

"I'm always going to be with you and supporting you. No matter how far away I may be."

I teleported us home and Naruto went to his room to sleep. I walked into the study and started to write the mission report. A lot had happened. There was a knock on the door and Kakashi walked in.

"I'm assuming it didn't go well?" He asked walking over to my desk. I sighed in frustration and put my hands over my face.

"Only way it could've gone worse is if someone had died." I whispered.

Kakashi pulled out some flowers from behind his back and set them in the vase on the desk. "Don't beat yourself up over it. He's stubborn and determined." Kakashi paused. "They both are."

"Naruto and I are at least on the same page now. I told him Sasuke has to see this through or else he won't want to stay in the village. He'll eventually come home, I have this feeling he'll have to."

"I hope you're right for their sake." Kakashi sighed and walked toward the door.

"Wait, I need to tell you something." He stopped and turned around. "I have to go on a solo mission for a while, I don't know how long I'll be gone. Just take care of the kids for me?"

"Just be safe, ok?" He came over and hugged me before leaving.

I finished the report, recounting all the events in record time, I knew that Kurama was waiting. I shunshined to the Hokage tower and knocked on Tsunade's door.

"Come in." I walked in and handed the scroll to Tsunade. "That was fast, got any plans?"

"Actually, I need to go on a solo mission for a while."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "What kind of mission?"

"I need to go to Strato and meet with one of the foxes there. I don't know how long I'll be away."

She nodded, thinking. "Alright. Take as much time as you need, you've had a rough month."

As if Kurama had been watching the entire time, he summoned me and I vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"Kurama." I smiled and tackled him into a hug.

"**Kyo, I hate to admit it, but I missed you."** He said pushing me back and inspecting me. **"Nice hair, evolved to six?"**

"Kakashi helped." I blushed slightly at the attention.

We walked around the forest for a while. There were foxes everywhere, each one greeting me in various ways. My summonings were the most excited to see me, yipping about dinner and parties. Kurama had to keep pushing them away.

"**We have to meet with my student immediately. Don't want him to die on us now, right?" **Kurama chuckled at his joke. We were ascending the volcano, there was a cave at the center of it.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked as we entered the cave.

"Is this her, Kurama-sensei?" I looked over at the fox who spoke and was more than shocked.

"That's your student?! He's so old!" I shouted.

Kurama looked embarrassed at the comment. **"I don't really age…"**

We stood in front of the ancient fox. He was laying on a maroon pillow and had dark red fur with grey feet and a patch over one eye. I felt him analyzing me and his attention turned to Kurama.

"I don't know why I thought she would be a brunette." He stated and Kurama groaned. "By the looks of your hair, you have six tails, yes?"

"Hai, sir."

"Call me Vesuvius. I'm too old for formalities. Humor me and make me feel young again." He sat up and leaned very close to me. He touched his nose to my forehead and his eye patch began to glow.

"**Well?"** Kurama asked, seeming uneasy.

"It's about her alright." I gulped. "Kyo dear, you will go on a long journey and contemplate your future. On your path you will encounter immense power in many forms. Ultimately, you will have to make a life or death decision, that weighs not only your future, but everyone's future in its balance." _Hm._ He paused. "There's something else." Another long pause, I could feel my pulse racing. "It appears you'll have to make that decision more than once."

I felt my heart stop. I looked over at Kurama and he blinked slowly. _Why would time slow down now?_ I felt a tear slip down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away. They both turned to me.

"Arigato, Vesuvius." I bowed and exited the cave, not checking to see if Kurama followed. I jumped from the ledge to the forest below, landing on a tree. _A life or death decision that weighs everyone's future? _

Kurama landed next to me on the branch and we sat for a while. He was staring at me, probably trying to read my reaction. I just kept staring at the forest. I couldn't even formulate complete thoughts, my mind had gone blank.

"**I want you to stay here for a while. The training for seven tails revolves around nature energy. It's essentially sage training, this would be the best place for you to do that."** He stated, wrapping one of his tails around me and hugging me.

"Alright."

We began meditating at the top of the volcano every day. Kurama had already done a lot of meditation with me as to center myself in my battles. He always said it helped keep a clear head and would come in handy in the future. Now I understand that. I was able to accumulate nature energy like it was nothing, I even surprised him at how fast I was catching on.

"**When you have successfully become a sage from this training a new tail will develop. The seventh tail's specialty is to gather nature energy, just like how the fifth acted independently. When you summon it in battle, it will automatically begin gathering nature energy and sage mode can be achieved. As long as the tail is gathering, you will be able to maintain it."** He gazed at me as my hair turned darker. **"You're ready."**

Kurama came up to me and I opened my eyes. "Ready for what?" I barely got the question out before he pushed me over the edge into the volcano. _He said I was ready, what does that mean? _I watched as the lava got closer and closer. I closed my eyes and activated my six tails, circling them around me for protection. I focused all of myself into the powerful energy around me, the powerhouse that is a volcano.

My spine felt scorched, the entirety of my back was on fire. _This is it. I couldn't do it. _I opened my eyes and saw a dark red aura surrounding my body and tails. I looked around and noticed I was sinking into the lava, but I couldn't feel it. I uncurled my tails and revealed a seventh one, made entirely of molten lava.

Chapter 18

There was a going away party for me at Strato that evening. Most of it was just a massive celebration for unlocking my seventh tail. Apparently it hadn't been done in centuries. The one before me was a monk who befriended Kurama after Hagoromo passed. There was drinking and dancing, Kurama even seemed to be having fun. All of the foxes were very polite and they each took time to introduce themselves to me. It should have been a wonderful time, except I couldn't stop thinking about the prophecy.

_So I'm leaving the village? Why would I do that… I love living there with Naruto and Kakashi. I feel like I have a family again. I want to be able to protect all of the people I care about, I can't do that away from them… What if my leaving the village is what kills them all? What if that decision is the answer to the rest of the prophecy? _

"**Kyo."**

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked over at Kurama.

"**Stop overthinking what Vesuvius said to you. It's going to happen no matter what you do, that's what a prophecy is."**

"But he didn't say anything about my decision that will either save or kill everyone."

"**You'll make the right choice when the time comes, I'll be there to help."**

"So you're coming back to the village with me?"

"**We're actually going right now. It's late and I'm not good at goodbyes."**

He rest his hand on my shoulder and teleported us back to the village. We arrived outside of the Hokage's door, but Kurama was nowhere to be seen.

_**Tell Lady Tsunade about the prophecy, but only the part about leaving the village. Not that you're going to do it now, but it will most likely be soon.**_

_You're right… with the Akatsuki out for jinchuuriki, I'm probably going to be summoned soon._

I knocked on the door and Tsunade invited me in. I had been gone for a few days with all the partying and meditating. She looked glad to see me back in one piece.

"How'd it go?"

"There was a prophecy." She looked shocked from what I said.

"Well, what was it?" She stood up and led me over to the couch.

"I'm going to be leaving the village soon." I looked away from her, it hurt thinking about leaving everyone.

"Did he say why or when?"

"He didn't say when. I'm going to keep the why to myself though, it's best you didn't know."

She nodded, thinking over what I said carefully. "When you leave the village, keep in touch. Even if it's only a scroll every once in a while, we want to know you're ok." She wrapped me in a hug and took a deep breath. "I'll do everything in my power to prevent you from being declared a rogue, just like I am with Sasuke."

I stood up and left, giving her a reassuring smile before I shut the door. I walked home slowly, barely noticing my surroundings. Only paying enough attention to not run into anything.

"Kyo?" I turned at the voice and Shikamaru was standing behind me.

"Hey."

"Wanna talk for a while? I haven't seen you around." He looked kind of hurt that I'd been so distant.

We sat on a bench near the front gate. It was quiet now, most of the village had gone to bed.

"What's been going on?"

"A lot. Missions and taking care of Naruto." I kept my eyes trained on the ground.

"You're really tense, is something going on?" I stayed silent. "Look is it because of Yahimaru and Tenzo?"

My throat caught and I ground my teeth together. "Don't talk about them."

"You need to, I can tell you're holding on to them."

"If I don't then who will?!" I felt my insides burn and I looked at Shikamaru angrily. "It's not like anything about my life has ever been remotely okay."

"What are you talking about?" He put his hands on my shoulders and I glared at him.

"I've lost everyone! I lost my parents when I was young, I lost my adopted father and sensei, the Uchiha, Yahimaru, and Tenzo. It's all my fault. If I didn't exist none of it would have happened."

"You're being ridiculous. Think about what you're saying. There are so many people who care about you here."

"You'll all die if I can't make the right decisions. If I mess up in the end… I'll be alone again."

"Kyo, what are you talking about?!" He shouted.

"I'm going to the Akatsuki." I stood up from the bench and began walking away.

"But they're criminals! Don't go to them! Stay here with us, don't isolate yourself again. We're your family."

"Even criminals can be family."

He grabbed my arm hard and turned me to look at him. "You have family in the Akatsuki?"

"Three members." I yanked my arm away and headed for the village gates. I was twenty feet outside the village when I froze. I was turned around by Shikamaru's shadow possession.

"You're not going anywhere."

I felt my eyes burning and tears slipped down my cheeks. I turned around and shattered his shadow possession. Shikamaru collapsed to his knees, trapped in a genjutsu as I walked into the surrounding trees. I passed a lake nearby and went over to rest when I caught my reflection. _What have I done?_

…

Kurama and I were eating dinner around a fire. He was watching with amusement as one of his tails swatted at fireflies. Once we had gotten a fair distance away from the village we made camp so I could write some letters.

_Obito-_

_I've left the village. I haven't seen you in a while and heard you were in need of a new member since Sasori passed. Let me know if I can join, I think you'll be satisfied with my progress._

_Kyo._

_Tsunade-_

_Looks like I left sooner than I thought. I have a plan to infiltrate the Akatsuki and keep an eye from the inside. I'll report whenever I have developments. Keep this a secret from the kids though, I don't want them worrying about me._

_Kyo._

_Naruto-_

_I'm sorry I had to leave so abruptly. I have some business that I have to take care of… You will see me again, sooner than you think. Who knows, maybe while I'm travelling I'll come across Sasuke._

_Love, Kyo._

_Kakashi-_

_I'm sorry. I'm leaving our knucklehead to you. I have to take care of some things for a while, I'm going to be in contact with Tsunade, but I want to stay in contact with you too. Keep me up to date on Naruto please, if things get bad then I'll come home. I'm trusting you with him, Kakashi. I know you need him as much he needs you._

_Kyo._

I summoned a few foxes to deliver the notes, hoping they hadn't already started to track me down. Once they all vanished into the trees I relaxed a little and Kurama was looking at me.

"**Tying up loose ends?" **

"Got to make sure I see this through. I don't want to hurt them more than I already have by leaving." I whispered, staring at the fire.

"**So the Akatsuki?"**

"I already know their ultimate plan thanks to Madara. I want to see their developments and gauge how much time I have. I also think they could help with the eighth tail. It'll be nice to see Itachi too." I bit my lip. "I keep thinking about the promise I made to Minato… We've all lost so much and everyone could be brought back with Project Tsuki no Me."

"**You'll make the right choice when the time comes." **Kurama curled into a ball, he looked rather adorable. **"Get some rest. We have a lot of travelling to do tomorrow."**

***Back in Konoha***

Kakashi and Naruto were sitting in the kitchen arguing about dinner. Kakashi wanted to cook something while Naruto wanted cup ramen… again. Usually Kyo made dinner.

"You need real food, Naruto. Like actual protein and vegetables."

"Then let's go to Ichiraku and get homemade ramen!" Naruto leapt from his chair in excitement.

"I'll make ramen here, we have everything we need. Kyo knows us well enough when she shops." Kakashi smiled under his mask and Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"What is it between you two? You're always together." Naruto squinted skeptically. "Are you guys like a thing?"

Kakashi scratched the back of his neck and his face got slightly pink. "No, you've already asked me that."

Kakashi looked over Naruto's shoulder onto the balcony because something caught his eye. A fox was sitting near the back door with a little backpack, waiting patiently.

"That's Kyo's summoning." He whispered and quickly made his way over to the door.

"Is something wrong?" Naruto asked, standing from his stool and following Kakashi.

They let the fox in and took the scrolls from its bag. Kakashi handed one to Naruto and they both stared at their names written on the outside. The fox dispelled and there was a long silence. Naruto was the first to open his, carefully unraveling it like it could disintegrate in his fingers. Kakashi kept looking at his, fists clenched tightly around it. Naruto walked out of the room and Kakashi could hear him close his bedroom door.

He opened the scroll, quickly read it and sealed it once again. A sigh escaped him and his head fell in his hands. _What makes you think we don't need you too?_

Kakashi went to Naruto's room and knocked before entering. Naruto was face down on his bed, clearly mulling over what to do.

"We should go to Lady Tsunade." Kakashi stated and Naruto stood up, completely silent.

***Hokage's Office***

_What is she thinking? Infiltrating the Akatsuki alone… _

Shikamaru crashed into the office with everyone. They all looked terrified and frantic, almost the same as when Sasuke had left.

"I already know." Tsunade whispered. They all looked shocked, making their way into the tiny office. "She sent me a message with one of her foxes, I'm giving her permission to travel around for the time being."

"My lady, we're worried about her. Ever since her intel mission she hasn't been the same." Sakura stated.

"Shikamaru, were you the last one to see her?" Tsunade asked carefully.

"She just said she was leaving. I tried to stop her with my shadow possession, but she broke through it. Shattered it actually. Her mangekyou has a powerful genjutsu, I was stuck there until Sakura found me." Naruto and Kakashi both walked into the room then, calmer than expected.

"Naruto, what are we going to do?" Sakura hummed quietly.

"_I think we just need to let him do his thing. He's past the point of persuading, you must know that." Is that what you want me to do with you, Kyo?_

"We just have to be there to welcome her home when she's ready, because eventually she will come back." He stated, smiling big. _I won't give up on either of you. I hope you find Sasuke, Kyo._

Everyone started to file out of the room, whispering amongst themselves. Tsunade took a couple deep breaths and looked up from her desk, Kakashi was still lingering by the couch.

"What is it, Kakashi?"

"She sent Naruto and I letters. She said she wants to keep in touch with you and I. Did she say what she would be doing?" He sat in a chair across from her desk, hoping that it was just travel, but he knew better when it came to her.

"She's infiltrating the Akatsuki. She wants to figure out what they're up to and try to keep it under wraps for the time being."

Kakashi was silent for a while, mulling over the information in his mind. _She can't do that alone, can she? She's a jinchuuriki like Naruto, why would the Akatsuki be a good idea? _

"What if she turns herself over for Naruto?"

"I didn't think of that…" Tsunade quickly took out a scroll and scribbled on it furiously. She sent it away with a hawk and gazed up at the ceiling. "If she tries to do that I said that we would come after her. I know she doesn't want us engaging them directly like that, so I don't think we have much to worry about there. Go home, Kakashi. The sooner you write her back, the sooner she'll respond."


End file.
